27th November and 1st December 2014
During a routine inspection
We carried out this unannounced inspection on the 27th November and the 1st December 2014.
We last inspected Southlands on the 6th January 2014 and found the service was not in breach of any regulations at that time.
Southlands is a large three storey converted terraced house. It is situated in a busy thoroughfare in Middlesbrough and provides accommodation for up to 10 adults with enduring mental illness from the age of 18 – 65
There is a registered manager in post who has been registered with the Care Quality Commission since 5th November 2014. ‘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 living at the service were receiving good care and support that was tailored to meet their individual needs. Staff ensured they were kept safe from abuse and avoidable harm. People we spoke with were positive about the service they received. People told us they felt safe and included in decisions about their care.
We observed interactions between staff and people living in the home and staff were kind and respectful to people when they were supporting them. Staff were aware of the values of the service and knew how to respect people’s privacy and dignity.
Medicines were properly managed. We found the audit process to be quite complicated and we discussed this with the owner and registered manager
The registered manager and staff had been trained and had a good knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The registered manager understood when an application should be made, and how to submit one. This meant people were safeguarded and their human rights respected.
People had access to the local community and were supported to go out and pursue individual interests such as going out to local town, the library, going out to lunch or day centres.
The culture within the service was person centred and open. From listening to people’s views we established the leadership within the service was consistent and the registered manager was readily accessible for staff, people using the service and their families and friends. We found the registered manager took steps to ensure the service learnt from mistakes, incidents and complaints.
Suitable arrangements were in place and people were provided with a choice of healthy food and drinks ensuring their nutritional needs were met.
People’s physical health was monitored as required. This included the monitoring of people’s health conditions and symptoms so appropriate referrals to health professionals could be made.
People’s needs were assessed and care and support was planned and delivered in line with their individual care needs. The support plans contained a good level of information setting out exactly how each person should be supported to ensure their needs were met. The support plans included risk assessments. Staff had good relationships with the people living at the home and the atmosphere was happy, homely and relaxed.
A range of activities were provided both in-house and in the community. We saw people were involved and consulted about all aspects of the service including what improvements they would like to see and suggestions for activities. We saw evidence that people were encouraged to maintain contact with friends and family.
The manager investigated and responded to people’s complaints, according to the provider’s complaints procedure. People we spoke with did not raise any complaints or concerns about living at the home.
There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Staff were supported to challenge when they felt there could be improvements and there was an open and honest culture in the home.
The registered manager explained they were trying to recruit new staff. We looked at the rotas for the last two weeks and the upcoming week and saw that at times, mainly Fridays, staff were working alone for up to two hours. The owner explained this was due to swapping shifts and assured us that they would get staff to cover so no one was working alone.
Staff received training to enable them to perform their roles and the service looked at ways to increase knowledge to ensure people’s individual needs were met. Staff had regular supervisions and appraisals to monitor their performance and told us they felt supported by the management team.