Archived: Column Care (North West) Limited

Updated 2 September 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 2 and 4 February 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector, a specialist advisor who had experience of providing services for older people with mental Health difficulties and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience for the inspection at Column Care (North West) Ltd had experience of services that supported people with mental health difficulties.

Before the inspection the nominated Individual of the organisation completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people who lived at the home. We also checked to see if any information concerning the care and welfare of people living at the home had been received.

We spoke with a range of people about the service. They included the registered manager, members of staff on duty, seven people who lived at the home, and health care professionals. We also spoke to the commissioning department at the local authority and contacted Healthwatch Blackpool prior to our inspection. Healthwatch Blackpool is an independent consumer champion for health and social care. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced whilst living at the home.

We looked at the care records of four people, the medicine records of seven people, the previous four weeks of staff rota’s, recruitment records for four staff, the training matrix for all staff, and records relating to the management of the home.

Updated 2 September 2015

This inspection took place on 2 and 4 February 2015 and was unannounced.

The service was last inspected in September 2014. They did not meet the requirements of the regulations during that inspection. They breached regulation 9, care and welfare of service users, Regulation 23, supporting workers, and Regulation 10 assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. The service provider provided an action plan to the Care Quality Commission which showed they would be compliant with these regulations by end of December 2014. However the February 2015 inspection identified there were continued breaches of Regulation 9, care and welfare and Regulation 23, supporting workers. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Column Care (North West) Ltd is a detached building located in Bispham, Blackpool. The home is registered to accommodate up to 10 people with mental health needs who require assistance with personal care. At the time of our visit there were seven people who lived at the home. Accommodation was arranged around the ground and first floor. There was a small garden area to the front of the home and a parking area.

There was not a registered manager in place and had not been one for over twelve months. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the registered provider. A condition of Column Care (North West) Ltd’s registration was they had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in place. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

People we spoke with told us they felt safe and well cared for. However this did not reflect our findings. Risks were not always assessed and when they were, appropriate action was not always taken to keep people safe. In addition, when we looked at staff files these showed that staff had not all received adult safeguarding training. This meant they did not all have the knowledge to protect people from the risk of poor care. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Staff recruitment was unsafe. The way recruitment was carried out increased the risks of unsuitable staff working in the home. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

The environment was fresh smelling throughout the home. We saw that the cleanliness of the home was adequate in most areas. However people did not have the means to wash and dry their hands appropriately after using the toilet. Liquid soap for hand washing was not in use as it was assessed as a risk. Staff had provided some hard bars of soap but these were ingrained with dirt. There were no disposable hand towels or any other means of drying hands. This increased the risk of poor hygiene and cross infection.

We found people and where appropriate their relatives, were involved in decisions about their care. People had care plans. Some were informative and person centred, others were less so and did not have information about the person’s life history, likes, dislikes and aspirations or information about specific health needs.

At the last inspection the risk assessments carried out did not show what action to take to reduce any risks highlighted. There were no management strategies in place to guide staff in supporting people in vulnerable or high risk situations or with behaviour that challenged. This was still the case at this inspection. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

When we last inspected staff had not received training in some specific areas of care. We told the provider to arrange for staff to receive training in these areas. At this inspection this training had not been completed. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Some procedures had recently been introduced to monitor the quality of the service. The manager had carried out one audit just before the inspection but had not yet acted on the findings. The directors of the Company operating the service did not carry out any quality assurance visits or audits.

People were complimentary about the meals and told us they enjoyed them. The food was well cooked and people were offered a choice of nutritious meals. However no-one was involved in cooking their own meals.

All the people we spoke with confirmed that staff were kind and compassionate. We saw that people’s views were sought on a regular basis. They found the staff team supportive and approachable. One person told us, “They usually listen to us if we aren’t happy with something or want to do something different.”

The management team had policies in place in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We spoke with the management team to check their understanding of MCA and DoLS. Relevant staff had been trained to understand when an application should be made.

Staffing levels were satisfactory. There were enough staff to provide people with support as needed. However the care practices were not pro-active in involving people and developing new skills and activities.

We looked at how medicines were prepared and administered. We saw medicines were usually given as prescribed. Where they were not and the medicines record had not been signed or errors had been made, the manager had taken appropriate action.