Archived: Halford Lodge

Halford Lodge provides housing with care. People live in their own home and receive personal care and support from staff at pre-arranged times and in emergencies. At the time of our visit 17 people at Halford Lodge received personal care. The provider had informed us the service was due to close by September 2017, staff and people who used the service had been informed of this decision.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

There were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. Staff knew what actions to take to keep people safe and there were procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care. There was a procedure for managing people’s medicines safely.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) to ensure people were looked after in a way that did not inappropriately restrict their freedom. This included applications to the relevant authority for any restrictions to people's freedom that were deemed as necessary to keep them safe; known as Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People received care from familiar staff who knew them well. People told us staff were caring and had the right skills and experience to provide the care and support they required.

There were enough staff to deliver the care and support people required. Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who lived at Halford Lodge. Staff received an induction when they started working for the service and completed training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively.

Care plans were regularly reviewed and contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the personalised care people required. People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people.

There was a stable management team. Staff told us management were approachable and supportive. People and staff felt confident they could raise any concerns or issues with the managers and that these would be listened to and acted on.

There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided, and to understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people and staff and returned surveys. There was a programme of other checks and audits by the provider and the management team to ensure the quality of the service was maintained.

We spoke with three staff, two visiting professionals and to the registered manager. Staff had a good knowledge and understanding of the individual needs of people living there. All the interactions we observed were friendly, positive and informal. A visiting professional told us 'I've not had any bad feedback about this place, we're working well together and the staff are very friendly.'

People were cared for by staff who were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard. All the staff we spoke with said they felt supported in their work.

People we spoke with said they had been involved in decisions made about their care. One person had devised their own care plan. They told us, 'I was a bit sceptical about it at first but it was good. I know that the plan includes everything I need.'

All the people we spoke with said staff were responsive and flexible to their needs. One person told us, 'I am so happy here it's such a homely place.'

Visitors we spoke with told us they were totally satisfied with the care provided to their relative. We were told, 'The care has been excellent, nothing is too much trouble. The staff certainly understand Mum's needs and respond really well to her. I feel really safe leaving her.'

We looked at the way the service managed medication. We found people received their medication at the times prescribed. Records confirmed staff completed medication training and were competent to give medicines safely.

There were processes in place to safely recruit staff and provide staff with the training and support to meet the care needs of people.

We found that complaints had been recorded and looked into. People we spoke with knew how to make a complaint and would have no hesitation speaking to the management team if they were concerned about anything.