Archived: Elliott House Residential Care Home

The two people had limited verbal communication and we were not able to converse with them in depth. We observed staff interactions and their body language to assess if they were happy at the home.

We saw that the interactions between the staff and people were friendly, caring and supportive. We saw that people felt comfortable in the presence of staff. This meant the pending move did not have an impact on them and their care needs were being met.

We saw that people continued with their social activities, attending school and day services as appropriate. This meant that people were engaged in meaningful activities so that they led fulfilled lives and that they were supported to develop their skills.

We saw that there were sufficient staff numbers to support people at the time of our visit. Staff had received training but the deployment of staff and the continual staff changes meant that people did not always received continuity of care.

There was a quality monitoring system in place. It did not always identify shortfalls in the service.

Staff supported people to make drinks and snacks. The relatives of three people using the service told us that staff were kind to people, this was confirmed during our observations. All bedrooms in the home were singly occupied and had en suite facilities providing people with space so their privacy and dignity could be maintained.

Not all of the people using the service had activities that kept them occupied. This may mean people are not always supported to have fulfilled lives.

There had been a number of staff changes which resulted in people using the service being unsettled. During our visit we saw that not all staff had the skills to meet people's needs arising from the behaviours of the people living in the home. One relative said, "staff are kind but don't know how to care for people with autism." A professional told us that people's behaviour had deteriorated because they were not being given adequate guidance and boundaries.

Staff had not received the training to meet people's needs safely putting people at risk of harm because staff did not have the appropriate skills.