Archived: Cheshire East Council Lincoln House Short Breaks

Updated 24 January 2018

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.

The inspection took place on 04 January 2018 and was announced. It was carried out by an adult social care inspection manager. The manager of the service was given 24 hours’ notice because the location is a small care home for adults who may be out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Before the inspection we contacted Cheshire East Council Contracts department. They told us that they had no concerns about the service. We looked at all of the information that CQC had received about and from the service since the last inspection. This included notifications about issues that had happened in the service.

During the inspection we looked at all parts of the premises. We spoke with the registered manager, outcomes coordinator, senior support worker and a support worker. We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives. We looked at medication records. We looked at staff rotas and training records. We looked at maintenance records. We looked at care records for three people who had accessed respite care at the service.

Updated 24 January 2018

Cheshire East Council Lincoln House Short Breaks is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The service is registered to provide respite accommodation for up to five people who require support and care with their daily lives. The service is situated near the centre of Crewe.

At the last inspection in October 2015 the service was rated good. At this inspection we found the service remained good.

The care service had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. We saw that people with learning disabilities and autism who used the service were able to live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives who all gave positive feedback about the service and the staff who worked in it.

Staff spoken with and records seen confirmed training had been provided to enable them to support people with their specific needs. We found staff were knowledgeable about the support needs of the people that came into the service for respite care.

We found medication procedures at the home were safe. Staff responsible for the administration of medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required. Following one minor medication error, robust procedures had been followed to minimise any further errors.

The staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This meant they were working within the law to support people who may lack capacity to make their own decisions. We saw that people were supported to make their own decisions and their choices were respected.

Care plans were person centred and developed with the people who came for respite care in the service. They detailed how people wished and needed to be cared for. They were regularly reviewed and updated as required.

The outcomes coordinator and registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits of the service and staff meetings to seek the views of staff about the service. The staff team were consistent and long standing. They demonstrated that they were committed to providing the best care possible for the people accessing the service.

The future of the service was uncertain as they had been informed that they were under review by Cheshire East Council and that the current accommodation would be changing in the next year. This impacted on everyone and all of the people we spoke with; people using the service, their relatives and the staff were worried about this. The relatives told us that they were dependent on the service and were worried about the negative impact on their relatives and themselves if the service changed or closed.