Archived: Stafford Lodge

The home had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We carried out a previous inspection of this service on 1 October 2013 where we found the service was meeting the requirements in the areas we looked at.

This inspection took place on 15 December 2016 and was unannounced. At the time of our inspection there were five people living in Stafford Lodge. People had a range of needs, with some people living with epilepsy, autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities.

Staff treated people with kindness and respect. People enjoyed pleasant interactions with staff which demonstrated people felt comfortable in their presence. Staff knew people’s preferences and communicated with people using their preferred methods of communication. For example, staff had used pictures in order to enable one person to better express their wishes and enable them to make choices. During our inspection we saw positive and caring interactions between people and staff. We found staff had caring attitudes towards people and spoke highly of them, their personalities and qualities within their care plans.

People were protected from risks relating to their health, medicines, nutrition and behaviours. Staff had assessed individual risks to people and had taken action to minimise these risks. Where accidents and incidents had taken place, these had been reviewed and action had been taken to reduce the risks of reoccurrence. Staff supported people to take their medicines safely and staff competencies relating to the administration of medicines were regularly checked.

Staff knew how to recognise possible signs of abuse which also helped protect people. Staff knew what signs to look out for and the procedures to follow should they need to report concerns. Safeguarding information and contact numbers for the relevant bodies were accessible. Staff told us they felt comfortable raising concerns. Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure only people of good character were employed by the home. Staff underwent Disclosure and Barring Service (police record) checks before they started work in order to ensure they were suitable to work with people who were vulnerable.

Staffing numbers at the service were sufficient to meet people’s needs and provide them with two to one or one to one support where required. Staff had the competencies and information they required in order to meet people’s needs. Staff received sufficient training as well as regular supervision and appraisal.

Staff had the competencies and information they required in order to meet people’s needs. Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and put it into practice. Where people had been unable to make a particular decision at a particular time, their capacity had been assessed and best interests decisions had taken place and had been recorded. Where people were being deprived of their liberty for their own safety the registered manager had made Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard (DoLS) applications to the local authority.

People were supported to have enough to eat and drink in ways that met their needs and preferences. People were supported to make choices about what they wanted to eat and encouraged to help prepare meals where they were able.

There was open and effective management at Stafford Lodge. The registered manager led by example to ensure best practice was followed. People, relatives, staff and healthcare professionals were asked for their feedback and suggestions in order to improve the service. There were effective systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the care and support being delivered.

We observed that staff were meeting the different communication needs of people living at the home in a timely and patient way. We noted that each care plan had information about people's general health needs and any professionals that were involved in their care. Each care plan had an activity plan based around each person's abilities and personal choices.

People at the home were actively encouraged to be involved in menu planning, shopping and preparation of their meals. We observed that people had been involved in developing new menus which gave people more choice and ensured that people were eating a healthy and well balanced diet.

On the day of our inspection we observed the home and surrounding areas were clean, tidy and well maintained and were free from preventable odours.

We observed throughout the visit that staff treated people with courtesy and respect. We noted that interactions were purposeful and in line with people's care and activity plans. On the day of our visit three people left to go to college, while another went out for a car ride. The remaining person was supported by staff to take part in activities in the home.

We saw copies of annual quality assurance questionnaires from relatives and carers. We noted a high level of satisfaction was recorded which demonstrated that the home was meeting the needs of people and carers living at the home.

We saw people were given choices about all aspects of their day to day lives. We noted people were always asked for their consent before being assisted with tasks. One person said 'They always make sure that I agree with what's happening.'

People appeared comfortable and relaxed with the staff who supported them. There was ongoing interaction between staff and people who lived at the home which created a warm and relaxed atmosphere.

Support plans that we read had health action plans which ensured that people received the support that they required with their health care needs.

Medication was administered by staff who had received training in this area and had had their competence assessed by a more senior member of staff.

Staff told us they felt well supported by the manager and the provider. We were told that there was good ongoing training and opportunities to obtain qualifications in care.

The company had a complaints policy which ensured that all complaints were recorded and fully investigated. There were also cards available that people who lived at the home were able to pass to staff if they were unhappy but unable to verbalise their complaint. This enabled everyone who lived at the home to raise concerns.