25 January 2019
During a routine inspection
The service had a manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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.
The staff understood how to protect people from harm and were confident that any concerns would be reported and investigated. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and plans were in place to monitor people and to assist them in a safe manner. Some people received assistance to take medicines and records were kept to ensure that this was done safely. There were safe recruitment procedures in place to ensure new staff were suitable to work with people. Lessons were learnt where things went wrong to ensure improvement were made.
Staff were supported and trained to ensure that they had the skills to support people effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible. People made decisions about how they wanted to receive support to ensure their health needs were met. When people required assistance to eat and drink, the provider ensured that this was planned to meet their preferences and assessed need.
People had a small team of staff who provided their support and had caring relationships with them. Care was planned and reviewed with people and the provider ensured that people’s choices were followed. People’s privacy and dignity were respected and upheld by the staff who supported them.
People had care records that included information about how they wanted to be supported and this was reviewed to reflect any changing needs. There was a complaints procedure in place and people were confident any concern raised would be addressed.
People were asked for their feedback on the quality of the service and their contribution supported the development of the service. Quality assurance systems were in place to identify where improvements could be made, and the provider worked with other organisations to share ideas and to develop the service. The registered manager promoted an open culture which put people at the heart of the service.