Fenney Lodge

Fenny Lodge is a care home for people with learning disabilities, it can accommodate up to eight people in one house. Accommodation is provided on two floors, a lift is available to access the first floor. The service is situated in Catcliffe, close to Rotherham.

The service operated in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People's experience of using this service:

Management processes were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. However, these were not always effective and did not always identify opportunities for improvement.

People were protected from abuse by staff who understood how to identify and report any abuse concerns. The risks to people's health, safety and welfare had been assessed, recorded and plans put in place to reduce these. Staffing levels enabled people's needs to be met safely, and ensured people received consistent and reliable care. The provider and management team sought to learn from any accidents or incidents involving people. Steps had been taken to protect people from the risk of infections.

People's individual needs and requirements were assessed with them before they started to use the service. Staff received an effective induction, followed by ongoing training and management support to enable them to work effectively. People had enough to eat and drink, and any risks associated with their eating or drinking were assessed and managed. Staff and management worked effectively with community health and social care professionals to ensure people's health needs were met and to achieve positive outcomes for them. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff adopted a friendly, caring and professional approach in their work and this gave people confidence to express their views about the care provided. People were treated with dignity and respect at all times and staff promoted their independence. Staff and management understood the need to promote equality and diversity and consider people's protected characteristics.

People and their relatives' involvement in decision-making about the care provided was encouraged by staff and management, and their views were listened to. People's care plans supported a person-centred approach and were followed by staff. People had support to pursue hobbies, access the local community and participate in recreational activities. People and their relatives understood how to raise any concerns or complaints about the service. People's wishes and choices about their end of life care were explored with them, where appropriate.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was Good (report published 20 February 2017).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People told us the home was a safe place to live and work. Staff were knowledgeable about how to recognise signs of potential abuse and aware of the reporting procedures. Assessments identified risks to people and management plans to reduce the risks were in place.

Recruitment processes were robust so helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. Staff had completed an induction at the beginning of their employment. They had access to a varied training programme and regular support and supervision was available to help them meet the needs of the people they cared for.

At the time of the inspection there was sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs.

Systems were in place to make sure people received their medications safely, which included key staff receiving medication training and regular audits of the system.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People were treated with respect, kindness and understanding. Staff demonstrated a good awareness of how they respected people’s preferences and ensured their privacy and dignity was maintained. We saw staff took account of people’s individual needs and preferences while supporting them.

Care plans reflected people’s needs and had been reviewed and updated to reflect people’s changing needs. People had access to activities and stimulation, as well as regular outings into the community.

There was a system in place to tell people how to raise concerns and how these would be managed. People told us they would feel comfortable raising any concerns with the management team.

Relatives we spoke with told us the management team were approachable, always ready to listen and acted promptly to address any concerns.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Action plans were implemented for any improvements required and these were followed by staff.

Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and had access to policies and procedures to inform and guide them.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We found that medicines were recorded and administered safely and appropriately. Staff were knowledgeable on the procedures in place to ensure this.

We observed people expressing their views and being involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. People were also asked for their consent before staff provided support or treatment.

We found that medicines were not always recorded or administered safely and appropriately. Records were duplicated, confusing and not easy to follow.

We found there was an effective recruitment and selection process in place. Staff received appropriate professional development.

We found people were protected from unsafe or inappropriate care by means of accurate records in relation to the care and treatment provided. Relatives told us they were involved in the development of the care plans and their choices were taken into consideration.

Relatives we spoke with told us they could see the service had improved and the new manager was very good. They said the staff team worked well and ensured people's needs were met including improved activities. One relative told us, 'I could not find a better home for my child, it is brilliant.' Another relative told us, 'It is a different home now the new manager and deputy are very good, the staff team work well together to ensure people get out more and their needs are met.'

During our visit we spent time observing in the Kitchen area. We observed good interactions between staff and people who received a service. There were activities ongoing at the time of our visit and people were enjoying the activities one person told us they were going on holiday the day after our visit and were looking forward to it.

We were not able to talk with people who lived at Fenney Lodge due to their disabilities. However we did observe people with staff during our visit. We also spoke with seven members of care staff, a senior and the manager.

Staff told us that they managed to meet people's basic needs. However they said that on occasions people had to wait for care to be delivered and there was not enough staff to take people out on individual activities.

We spoke with relatives of two people who live at Fenney Lodge. They told us that there was a lack of activities. They said although it had improved there were still occasions when people were just sat in front of the television in the lounge without staff present for long periods of time.

We looked at staffing rotas and these showed that there was a minimum of five staff on duty during the day over the holiday period and on most days there were six. The manager or the senior was also on duty each day. Although nine people lived at Fenney Lodge only six were in the home over the holiday period as some were to visit family and friends. Staff told us they felt this was enough staff to meet people's needs.