We carried out a review of the data available to us about Bell House Mews on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Bell House Mews, you can give feedback on this service.
Bell House Mews is a supported living accommodation for up to 14 adults with learning difficulties and/or mental health needs in their own flats, with a staff flat on site.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe. Medicines were managed safely. Staff were recruited safely, and there were enough staff to take care of people. Support plans and risk assessments detailed what care and support people needed to reduce risk to them.
Staff received appropriate training, a plan was in place to ensure training was kept up to date. Staff were supported and felt supported by the management team. Staff received supervision. People’s needs were assessed, and outcomes recorded. People were offered a choice of food and drink. The service worked with other health care professionals.
People told us staff were kind and caring. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems at the service supported this practice. People told us staff treated them with dignity and respect, they were involved with the planning of their care and their views were listened to.
There was a complaints procedure and people knew how to complain. Peoples likes, and dislikes were recorded in people’s support plan and staff knew people and their preferences well. People’s communication needs were in their plans. People had a good range of activities in place and people were happy with what was on offer.
People spoke highly of the management team who they said was approachable and supportive. The registered manager understood the regulatory requirements. People told us they thought the service was well led.
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (July 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Bell House Mews provides supported living accommodation for up to 14 adults with learning difficulties and/or mental health needs. Longley Hall Limited provides care and support to meet the needs of people living at Bell House Mews. People have individual tenancies with the housing provider. The service is located in the Shiregreen area of Sheffield and is on a bus route and close to local amenities. On the day of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.
This service has been in Special Measures. Services that are in Special Measures are kept under review and inspected again within six months. We expect services to make significant improvements within this timeframe. During this inspection the service demonstrated to us that improvements had been made and was no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is now out of Special Measures.
There was a manager at the service who was registered with CQC. 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 had been in post since June 2015. They were registered to manage both Bell House Mews and the provider’s other Sheffield service, Longley Hall.
Medicines were stored safely and securely, and procedures were in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.
All staff understood what it meant to protect people from abuse. They told us they were confident any concerns they raised would be taken seriously by management
The service had a safe and effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant checks when they employed staff.
The care records we looked at included risk assessments, which identified any risks to the person. They had been devised to help minimise and monitor the risks, while promoting the person’s independence as far as possible.
Staff told us and records showed they received regular supervisions and appraisals. Staff told us they found these meetings useful and they felt supported by management.
The registered manager and staff were aware of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
People had access to a range of health care professionals to help maintain their health and wellbeing.
Positive and supportive relationships had been developed between staff and people who used the service. People were treated with dignity and respect.
People received personalised care. Care records reflected people’s current needs and preferences.
There was a clear complaints policy and procedure in place. People’s complaints were taken seriously, investigated, and responded to.
The service had up to date policies and procedures which reflected current legislation and good practice guidance.
There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.
This was our first inspection of this service.
Bell House Mews provides supported living accommodation for up to 14 adults with learning difficulties and/or mental health needs. Longley Hall Limited provides care and support to meet the needs of people living at Bell House Mews. People have individual tenancies with the housing provider. The service is located in the Shiregreen area of Sheffield and is on a bus route and close to local amenities. On the day of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.
There was a manager at the service who was registered with CQC. 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 had been in post since June 2015. They were registered to manage both Bell House Mews and the provider’s other service, Longley Hall.
Medicines were not stored safely. We found gaps in medication administration records which meant people may not have always been given their medicines at the right time. Medication administration records were not regularly audited to check that medicines were given to people as prescribed.
We saw that safe recruitment procedures were not always followed to ensure that all the required information and documents were in place before staff commenced employment. These procedures were required to verify people employed by the service were suitable to work with vulnerable adults.
Not all the care records we looked at contained risk assessments. Where risks had been identified there was limited information as to how to recognise or reduce the risks to the person.
Care staff understood what it meant to protect people from abuse. They told us they were confident any concerns they raised would be taken seriously by management.
We saw care staff had training in understanding mental capacity and care staff we spoke with understood what this meant in practice.
Care staff were not provided with regular supervisions and an annual appraisal to ensure they were suitable for their job and supported in their role.
We saw people had access to external health professionals and this was evidenced in people’s care records.
People living at Bell House Mews told us that staff were caring and supportive. We saw and heard positive interactions between people and care staff.
People’s privacy was not always respected and personal information was not stored securely.
None of the care records we looked at were complete. Where information was recorded on support plans it was recorded as an ongoing need with no completion date and no evidence of a recent review being undertaken. None of the support plans we looked at had been signed or dated by the person it concerned.
Some people living at Bell House Mews told us they were bored. Where people had expressed a desire to partake in an activity this was not always pursued.
We saw the service had a complaints policy and procedure. The procedure needed updating to reflect the current management structure.
We were told there weren’t currently any mechanisms in place to ascertain the views of people living, working or visiting Bell House Mews. This could include questionnaires and/or a suggestion box.
We saw evidence of staff meetings taking place monthly. There were no records any ‘resident’s’ meetings and we were told there were no meetings planned for people living at Bell House Mews.
There was no evidence of regular quality audits being undertaken to ensure safe practice and to identify any improvements required.
We found incidents had not been reported to CQC as required by regulation 18 of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009.
We found the service was in breach of five regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. These were Regulation 10, Dignity and respect; Regulation 12, Safe care and treatment; Regulation 17, Good governance; Regulation 18, Staffing and Regulation 19, Fit and proper persons employed.
The overall rating for this service is inadequate and the service is therefore in special measures.
Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, the service will be inspected again in six months.
The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.
If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated up to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.
For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.