Archived: Connaught House

There was a registered manager in post. 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 legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. However, the registered manager was on maternity leave. The provider had informed us of this and the deputy manager was managing the service during this period of leave.

Staff understood the importance of people consenting to the care they provided and encouraged choice making. They understood the importance of enabling people to make their own decisions wherever possible and seeking the involvement of appropriate people when making decisions to provide care in a person’s best interests if they were not able to give consent themselves.

People told us they felt safe and well cared for. They were protected from harm because staff understood the risks they faced and how to reduce these risks. They also knew how to identify and respond to abuse.

There were systems in place to ensure medicines were administered safely.

Staff were consistent in their knowledge of people's needs and spoke with confidence about the care they provided to meet these needs. Care and treatment was delivered in a way that met needs and promoted independence and dignity. Staff kept accurate records about the support they provided.

There were enough safely recruited staff to ensure the care could be provided. Staff told us they felt supported in their roles and had received training that provided them with the necessary knowledge and skills to do their job effectively.

People had access to health care professionals and was supported to maintain their health by staff. Staff understood the need to share information about changes in people’s health.

People were positive about the care they received and told us the staff were nice. Staff treated people and each other with respect and kindness.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and people were encouraged to contribute to the management of the service.

There was guidance for staff on safeguarding people from abuse. Staff we spoke with knew how to report any concerns regarding abuse. Staff members told us that they felt it was important to protect people as they were vulnerable.

We found by looking at staff rotas and training records and speaking with the provider that there was sufficient qualified, skilled and experienced staff to provide care and support for people.

There was a system in place to seek the views of people, family representatives and staff and we found the provider had made changes as a result. We found the provider was investigating comments and complaints and accidents and incidents and was learning from these in order to improve the care, treatment and support provided to people.

Staff were knowledgeable about people's needs and preferences. We found staff were respectful and maintained people's dignity, privacy and independence.

There was only one person using the service at the time of the inspection. When we viewed the care plan for that person it included a very detailed initial assessment that focused on the needs of that person and the requirements of the support provided. However, there was not any current information in relation to the care provided. Therefore we were unable to see that people's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan.