Background to this inspection
Updated
15 September 2015
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.
The unannounced inspection took place on 28 and 31 July 2015 and was undertaken by one inspector.
Prior to this inspection the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had carried out an unannounced inspection at Penlea on 18 December 2014. However due to unforeseen circumstances, the CQC were unable to produce a report. This resulted in the need for a further inspection to take place.
Before the inspection, the provider completed a 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 also reviewed information we held about the service. This included previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.
During the inspection the majority of people who lived at Penlea were attending day care services. We spoke with one person who lived at Penlea, two relatives, the registered manager, the manager and three members of staff. We also spoke with a health care professional, and a speech and language therapist who had supported people within the service.
We looked at three records related to people’s individual care needs and two records related to the administration of medicines. We viewed three staff recruitment files, training records for all staff and records associated with the management of the service including quality audits.
Updated
15 September 2015
The inspection took place on 28 and 31 July 2015 and was unannounced. This service was also inspected on 18 December 2014 but, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to complete a report for that inspection.
Penlea is part of the Royal Mencap Society and provides care and accommodation for up to 7 people. On the day of the inspection 6 people lived within the home. Penlea provides care for people who have a learning disability and may also have physical disabilities.
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. The registered manager was not available during the inspection. In their absence, the manager of the service supported us with our inspection throughout the two days.
During the inspection people and staff were relaxed, the environment was clean and clutter free. There was a calm and pleasant atmosphere. People told us and we saw, they had the freedom to move around freely as they chose and enjoyed living in the home.
Care records were focused on giving people control. Staff responded quickly to people’s change in needs. People and those who matter to them were involved in identifying their needs and how they would like to be supported. People’s preferences were sought and respected. People’s life histories, disabilities and abilities were taken into account, communicated and recorded, so staff provided consistent personalised care, treatment and support.
People’s risks were managed well and monitored. There was a culture of learning from mistakes. Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and analysed. There were effective quality assurance systems in place. Action had been taken promptly to address any areas of concern identified, and changes had been made.
People were promoted to live full and active lives and were supported to access the community. Activities were meaningful and reflected people’s interests and individual hobbies. One staff member commented, “One of the best things about Penlea is the amount of activities people get to do”. People told us they enjoyed the variety of activities the service enabled them to take part in.
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 access to health and social care professionals, such as GPs, social workers and speech and language therapists.
People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet. Dietary and nutritional specialist advice was sought so that people with complex needs with regards to their eating and drinking, were supported effectively.
People and staff were encouraged to be involved and help drive continuous improvements. This 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. People told us concerns raised had been dealt with promptly and satisfactorily. The service had received no written or verbal complaints.
People told us they felt safe. Advice was sought to help safeguard people and respect their human rights. 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 told us they felt confident any incidents or allegations would be fully investigated.
Staff understood and had a good working knowledge of the key requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff put this into practice effectively to help ensure people had their legal rights respected.
Staff received a comprehensive induction programme, which incorporated the new care certificate. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were appropriately trained and had the correct skills to carry out their roles effectively. One staff member said: “The training here is spot on, I was more than ready to start following my induction”. The service followed safe recruitment practices to help ensure staff were suitable to carry out their role.
Staff described the manager to be very open, supportive and approachable. Staff talked positively about their jobs. Comments included, “I love my job”, “I am really well supported” and “I am passionate about caring, I do this job because I love it, not for the money but because I genuinely care about the people”.