Archived: Moorcroft House

Updated 30 December 2017

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 14 November 2017 and was announced. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service including statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that occurred at the service. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. In addition we reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan the inspection.

During the inspection we spent time and spoke with the one person who currently lived at Moorcroft House. We attempted to gain feedback from relatives and external professionals who had experience of the service following the inspection, but were unsuccessful. We looked around the premises and observed care practices on the day of our visit.

We reviewed one person’s care records including their medicines administration records. We looked at two staff files including recruitment, training, supervision and duty rotas. We read other records relating to the management of the service that included incident reports, safeguarding concerns, complaints and audits to monitor quality of the service.

Updated 30 December 2017

The inspection of Moorcroft House took place on the 14 November 2017. The inspection was announced.

Moorcroft House is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for three people. The home provides care and support for people with learning disabilities who may have additional physical needs. At the time of the inspection there was one person using the service.

At the time of our inspection the service had a manager in post that was registered with the Care Quality Commission. However, they had been absent from work since April 2016. The nominated individual was acting as the manager in their absence and had applied for registration with CQC. 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.

At our last inspection of the service on 08 September 2016 we rated the service as "Requires Improvement". This was because we found deficiencies in the way medicines and recruitment were managed. This meant the provider was in breach of one regulation of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Following the inspection the provider sent us an action plan setting out the actions they would take to meet the regulation. During this inspection we found appropriate systems were in place to ensure that people's medicines and staff recruitment were managed in a proper and safe way.

Staff followed the service's policies and procedures to protect people from a potential harm and abuse. Care plans were linked to risk assessments to guide staff on the support people required to stay safe. Robust systems were in place to check staff's suitability for the post before they started working with people. When necessary, cover was provided to ensure adequate staffing levels at the service. Staff were trained and followed the service's requirements on how to manage medicines safely.

Staff were provided with appropriate training for their role. Staff supported people to book and attend their health appointments as necessary. People made choices about the food they wanted to eat. Staff received support to carry out their responsibilities as necessary, this included regular supervision meetings.

Staff recruitment procedures were robust and staff were provided with regular training and supervision. We found there were enough staff on shift to meet people's needs.

People were involved in the planning of their care and support where possible. Care plans contained information about people's wishes and preferences. They showed people's skills in relation to tasks and what support they required from staff, in order that their independence was maintained. People had involvement in the regular reviews of their care and support.

People were relaxed in staff's company. People were treated with dignity and respect and their privacy was respected. Staff were kind and patient in their approach, but also used good humour. Staff had built up relationships with people and were familiar with their life stories and preferences.

People had a varied diet and could be involved in planning the menus. Staff supported people's dietary needs and requests. People had a programme of leisure activities and went out and about as they wished.

There were systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. Staff described the registered provider as supportive.