Archived: Downview Residential Home

Downview Residential Care Home offers a service for up to seven people with learning and associated disabilities. Twenty four hour support is provided by a regular team of staff.

No registered manager was in place in the service. 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. A new manager had been appointed and started work two days prior to this inspection. She planned to apply for registration.

At the previous inspection in November 2015 the service was rated good overall, although some improvements were needed under “safe”. Recruitment procedures had not always been followed robustly and regular in house checks of fire equipment had not taken place between service visits.

At this inspection we found these matters had been addressed. The recruitment process was robust and prospective staff had been subject to the required checks of their suitability. Health and safety and fire safety checks and servicing had all been carried out as required.

At this inspection we found people were safe and well cared for. People felt staff treated them with kindness, respected their dignity and involved them in decisions about their care. People had been resident for a long time and staff knew them well. The service had a relaxed and calm atmosphere and interactions between people and staff were respectful.

People had detailed care plans which identified their individual wishes, needs and aspirations. They provided clear guidance to staff about how to support each person. However, it was not clear if care records had been recently reviewed and some documents were not dated or signed.

The service had experienced a period of unsettled management, without a registered manager since July 2016. Records and systems within the service required review and updating and the service required a more thorough system of management monitoring. The new manager had already begun taking steps to address these points as part of her action plan.

Staffing levels were sufficient to promote safe and effective care and enable people to access the community freely. People took part in a wide range of fulfilling activities, including voluntary work and they enjoyed busy lifestyles.

Staff received regular training updates, although supervision had not been provided regularly throughout the previous 12 months. The new manager had already put in place a schedule of supervision meetings for staff throughout the year.

People’s rights and freedom were protected and promoted. Their dietary and health needs were met effectively and staff involved people in these aspects of their care as much as possible. People’s spiritual and cultural needs were also met.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were offered a rewarding lifestyle and were happy living in the home. They told us,''I love living here'' and ''it's very, very nice''.

People were involved in the choice and preparation of a varied and nutritious diet. People told us the food is ''very good because we choose it ourselves''.

The houses were homely, well maintained and adapted to meet the needs of individuals. People had their own bedrooms and access to suitable bathing and toileting facilities.

The home had a robust recruitment process to ensure staff were suitable and safe to work with the people who lived in the home.

The home had ways of checking that the service they offered was of good quality. They made sure they listened to the views and ideas of the people who used the service and other interested parties to improve people's quality of life.

We saw that people were offered choices and controlled their daily life as much as possible. People described some of the choices they made. People had individualised plans of care that met their specific needs. The plans of care were reviewed regularly. One person said, 'we talk about our month with our key workers and they write down what we've done and what we should try to do next time'. The home worked with other professionals to keep people as healthy as possible and to help people to control their behaviours. A person described how staff helped them when they became angry. The two people who received medication were helped by staff to take it safely. Staff were appropriately trained and supported to enable them to provide care for the people who lived in the home. Staff told us that they and the people who they offered care to were highly valued and always listened to. People told us that staff were 'very lovely and they treat us very well'. The home had the necessary records and policies and procedures in place to ensure people were cared for as safely and consistently as possible.