Archived: Sharpe House

At the time of this inspection there were seven people living at the home. Three people were out attending day care placements or visiting prospective new homes. We met and spoke with two people living Sharpe House. One person declined to speak with us and another person was unable to verbally communicate.

People told us that they were aware of their imminent move to new homes and that they had been involved in the decisions. One person told us they were 'excited but nervous'. During the inspection we saw staff were friendly, patient and reassuring, especially when people had repeated questions about the arrangements for moving to new homes. Staff told us it was their job to ensure 'that the next few weeks were as happy and comfortable as they could be' for people living at Sharpe House.

We found that there were sufficient staff on duty to ensure people's daily needs were met. However the service did not have a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection.

During the inspection we found areas for improvement. People did not always experience care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights. This was because the provider had not taken all appropriate steps to ensure that people had access to appropriate external health professionals.

We found the provider had not taken steps to provide care in an environment that was suitably designed and adequately maintained.

We looked at the care records of three of the nine people living at the home. We noted that the care records contained up to date care plans and a hospital passport for each person to support a potential admission to hospital. Daily records were maintained and risk assessment tools were in place which were linked to the care plans

We noted that one person could become distressed and lose control if their routine was disturbed. Staff ensured that every attempt was made to minimise the possibility of this occurring and a protocol was in place to manage the situation if it occurred.

We observed that there were sufficient staff at the home to meet people's care needs. One person took great pride in telling us that they were involved in choosing the new staff who would care for people at the home.

We observed that the home had a theme for it's annual user surveys. People at the home were supported to complete the surveys about the quality of the food and their personal preferences. People said they liked the food and were supported in shopping and preparing the meals at the home.