Archived: The Limes

Updated 24 November 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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 12 and 13 October 2016. The inspection was announced and was undertaken by one inspector. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides care for people in their own homes; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

We reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications that the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During this inspection people were not able to communicate with us about their experiences of support from the service, but we were able to speak to a relative. We also spoke with the provider, registered manager and another member of the management team as well as five support workers.

We looked at care records relating to one person. We looked at the quality monitoring arrangements for the service, four records in relation to staff recruitment, as well as records related to staff training, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 24 November 2016

This announced inspection took place over two days on 12 and 13 October 2016. At the time of our inspection the service supported one person with the regulated activity of personal care.

There was a registered manager in post 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.

People’s capacity to consent to their care and support was not always assessed. People supported by the service were not able to consent to many aspects of their care. However, written capacity assessments were not in place. Staff did demonstrate that they understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and gained people’s consent when supporting them.

Recruitment procedures protected people from receiving unsafe care from support staff that were unsuitable to work at the service.

People were not able to communicate with us to tell us if they felt safe, however relatives confirmed that they felt that their family member was supported in a safe way.

People were protected from harm arising from poor practice or abuse as there were clear safeguarding procedures in place for care staff to follow if they were concerned about people’s safety. Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns.

There were systems in place to manage medicines safely. Staff were trained in the safe administration of medicines and people had specific care plans relating to the provision of their medicines.

People received care from staff that were kind and friendly. People had meaningful interactions with staff and enjoyed being with staff. Staff had an in depth knowledge of people’s communication needs and behaviours, which enabled them to respond to people appropriately. People received care at their own pace and were treated with dignity and respect.

Care records contained individual risk assessments and risk management plans to protect people from identified risks and help to keep them safe. Care plans were written in a person centred approach and detailed how people wished to be supported and where possible people were involved in making decisions about their care.

People were supported to participate in a range of activities and staff knew people well and understood the types of activities they enjoyed.

People received care from staff who had the appropriate skills and knowledge to meet their needs. All staff had undergone the provider’s induction and mandatory training before working with people.

Staff were aware of the importance of managing complaints promptly and in line with the provider’s policy. Staff and people were confident that issues would be addressed and that any concerns they had would be listened to.

The provider and registered manager were visible and accessible to people, their relatives and staff and people had confidence in the way the service was run.