Archived: The Heathers - Care Home Learning Disabilities

The Heathers is a large care home that provides accommodation and support to up to six people with complex needs. At the time of the inspection there were two people using the service.

There was a registered manager in place. 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.’

People indicated they felt safe. People were protected from the risk of abuse by staff who had knowledge of safeguarding. Staff were aware of the potential signs of abuse and how to report their concerns appropriately. People were protected against identified risks. The service had in place comprehensive risk assessments, which gave staff clear guidance on how to keep people safe.

People’s liberty was not deprived unlawfully. Staff and the registered manager were aware of their responsibilities in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 [MCA] and Deprivation of Liberty Safegurards [DoLS]. These aim to make sure that people in care homes, hospitals, and supported living services, are looked after in a way that does not deprive them of their liberty and ensures that people are supported to make decisions relating to the care they receive.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their needs. The service had staff available to cover outings and staff absence, so that people could continue with their planned activities and remain safe. The service carried out the necessary pre-employment checks to ensure suitable staff were recruited.

People were supported to received their medicines in line with good practice. The service had robust systems in place to ensure people received their medicines on time and in accordance with their prescription. Medicines were stored, recorded and administered correctly. Staff carried out daily audits to ensure any medicine discrepancies were identified quickly and action taken to rectify the issues.

People lived in a safe environment. The service carried out regular checks of the premises and equipment to ensure people were safe. Records were maintained to highlight any areas that required maintenance and work carried out quickly.

People received support from knowledgeable staff. Staff were supported to receive on-going comprehensive training to ensure people’s needs were met. Staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities and were encouraged to identify any training needs they required. Staff received on-going supervisions and appraisals, where they reflected on their working practices to highlight any areas of improvement.

People were supported to eat sufficient amounts to eat and drink. The service had involved the support and guidance of a nutritionist and the local Speech and Language Therapy [SALT] team, to ensure people’s needs around nutrition and eating were met and closely monitored. People were encouraged to maintain a healthy nutritional diet. People’s health was monitored and addressed regularly. The registered manager actively encouraged the involvement of other health care professionals to ensure people’s health needs were met. Information and guidance provided by the health care professionals was then implemented into people’s care plans.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected. Staff were aware of the importance of maintaining people’s privacy and dignity. Staff ensured people were treated with respect and kindness, encouraging their sense of self worth. People’s consent was obtained prior to care being delivered.

People and their were supported to be involved in making decisions about their care. Where possible staff encouraged people to indicate if they were satisfied or not with suggestions about their care. Relatives and other health care professionals were included in decision making.

People received personalised care that met their needs. People’s care plans were person centred and detailed their history, preferences and things that were important to them. Care plans were comprehensive and reviewed regularly.

Staff appeared motivated with one saying their work was "very good" and another valuing the support from managers and colleagues. Staff felt they had adequate resources for the number of people living in the home and were able to take people out of the home to attend day services as well as other outings.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding and felt able to report any concerns. Staff were committed to providing high standards of care.

The home appeared clean and homely but some areas were in need of redecoration and repair. Bedrooms were personalised and medical equipment such as hoists were available and had been serviced.

We observed staff interacting with people in a friendly; respectful and kind way and the home was calm and people appeared relaxed.

We saw that staff were communicating with people in a way that they understood and we observed that they were doing this respectfully and treating each person as an individual. Staff were seen giving encouragement at all times throughout the day and were always talking to the people and involving them as much as possible. We saw during our observations that people using the service were treated with dignity and respect. One staff member said "Even though the people we look after are totally dependant on us we still try to allow as much independence as possible and always give encouragement and praise."

We saw a member of staff dispensing medication and following the correct procedure and we also saw lots of information for workers relating to safeguarding and whistleblowing issues and how to report them. We reviewed four staff files and saw that the employment process was very robust and ensured that the people employed by the service had suitable training and were of good character with the appropriate skills to competently carry out their duties.