As part of this planned inspection we requested information from the provider about how the quality of the service was assessed and monitored and about staff training and supervision. We also contacted a GP with knowledge of the home. We conducted an unannounced visit on 22 December 2011 spending four hours there in total. As we were unable to get all the information we needed at the visit we then requested additional information to be sent to us and we followed this up through a conversation with the manager on 18 January 2012.
When we conducted our visit we met four of the eight people who used the service who were students of phase one of the rehabilitation and training programme. We had conversations with three of them. We were told that when they joined the programme they had been made fully aware of what was included, such as the restrictions, that it was a Christian community, and part of the programme included farm working.
Two people told us "Everyone here is so nice" and described the family environment, which they said they liked. They told us that they felt safe, and they gave us information about the arrangements to ensure their safety, such as segregated accommodation.
The programme of rehabilitation was described to us and we were told about the close support people were receiving throughout the programme. This included regular meetings, detailed plans, goals and progress records. We found that risk was fully understood and managed and both people told us how "gracious" the staff were.
The GP we contacted said that they had no concerns about Risdon Farm and we found that people's physical and mental health care needs were being met.
We found that some people were still living in old caravans. One person we met said his was comfortable enough and quite safe. It was warm and dry when we visited it. We found that people's safety was being given a high priority.
Two people told us that they thought the senior staff were skilled and knowledgeable and that more junior staff would ask for any advice they needed. We found that staff received supervision of their work.
We found that the quality of the service, and the progamm's success rates, were monitored. However, the current training arrangements do not guarantee that staff have adequate knowledge, the main example being their lack of knowledge of how to alert concerns which might indicate abuse had occurred. The manager did have this knowledge.