Archived: Weymouth Aftercare Centre

Weymouth Aftercare Centre is a residential care home providing treatment, rehabilitation and support for up to 15 people affected by substance misuse issues. On the day of the inspection 6 people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

During the inspection people and staff were relaxed; the environment was clean and clutter free. There was a calm and pleasant atmosphere. People confirmed staff were caring and kind to them.

Care records were focused on people’s goals for their recovery. People were involved in planning their needs, the areas they identified they needed support with and how they would like to be supported. People preferences were sought and respected. People’s life histories were taken into account, communicated and recorded, so staff provided consistent personalised care, treatment and support.

People’s risks were known, monitored and managed well. There was an open, transparent culture and good communication within the staff team. Accidents and incidents were recorded and managed promptly. Staff knew how to respond in a fire and emergency situation. There were some quality assurance systems in place. Incidents related to people’s behaviour were appropriately recorded and discussed amongst the team to understand possible triggers and reduce the likelihood of a reoccurrence.

People were encouraged to live active lives and were supported to participate in community life where possible. People committed to participating in the in house treatment programme. The treatment programme was based on the 12 step AA model for treating alcohol abuse and addiction. During the week there were meditation groups, group therapy, one to one therapy and relapse prevention groups.

People had their medicines managed safely. People received their medicines as prescribed, received them on time and understood what they were for. People were supported to maintain good health through regular visits with healthcare professionals, such as GPs and dentists and the specialists involved in people’s specific health care needs.

People and staff were encouraged to be involved in meetings held at the home to help drive continuous improvement such as residents’ meetings and staff meetings. Listening to feedback on a daily basis helped ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

People knew how to raise concerns and make complaints but told us they didn’t have any. People explained there was an open door policy and staff always listened and were approachable. The registered manager informed us if any complaints were made they would be thoroughly investigated and recorded in line with the service’s policy.

People told us they felt safe and secure. There were house rules which helped to keep people safe. For example, no alcohol or drug use.

Staff understood their role with regards ensuring people’s human rights and legal rights were respected. All the people who were being supported at Weymouth Aftercare Centre had capacity and consented to their care and treatment but staff understood the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA) and the associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The service made great efforts to ensure people’s human rights and liberty were respected. All staff had undertaken training on safeguarding adults from abuse; they displayed good knowledge on how to report any concerns and described what action they would take to protect people against harm.

Staff in post had previously received treatment at the service and knew the service well. There was a brief induction programme covering essential training. We spoke with the registered manager about implementing the Care Certificate (a new health and social care staff induction programme). There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were passionate about their work; they were empathic, kind, caring and thoughtful. Staff ensured people mattered, cared for people’s families and relatives and supported people to reconnect with family where possible. Staff were appropriately trained, had experience of addiction and had the correct skills to carry out their roles effectively.

Staff described the management as open, very supportive and hands on. Staff felt like part of a large family and talked positively about their jobs and the positive contribution they made to people’s recovery.

There were 11 people living at Carlton House at the time of the inspection and the people we spoke with were very positive about the service they had received. One person we talked with told us, 'It's done me the world of good and the one to ones have been brilliant'. Another person said, 'My life has really picked up, it opened doors, I couldn't find a bad word to say about this place'.

Care and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. A member of staff we spoke with told us, 'The individual is the most important person'. All the people we spoke with expressed confidence in the care and treatment provided at Carlton House.

People's health, safety and welfare was protected when more than one provider was involved in their care and treatment, or when they moved between different services. This was because the provider worked in co-operation with others.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of harm because the provider had taken steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent it from happening.

The provider had some systems to assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive.

We spent time observing how staff interacted and supported people. We saw staff treating people with respect and involving them in group work and activities throughout the time we spent at the service. People appeared relaxed and happy when talking with each other and staff.

A resident told us that, "The staff here are brilliant, and there is always someone around." An ex-resident told us, 'The care is really good here.' They went on to add, 'The role modelling from staff is an important part of the approach."

All the people we spoke to said they were happy living at the home. They told us the food was good, they had a choice of what to eat, and that they had enough to eat and drink. They told us the quality of care was good, a resident said, "It's been brilliant from the moment when I first walked through the door."

People told us they felt safe living at Weymouth Aftercare Centre. People said that they knew how to raise issues with the manager of the home, and confident that these would be addressed.

We also saw that the home had some systems in place to regularly monitor and quality assure the care people received