Archived: Care Management Group - Cowley Cottage

Below is a summary of what we found based on our observations during the inspection, speaking with people using the service and the staff supporting them and from looking at records.

If you want to see the evidence supporting our summary please read our full report.

We spoke with five people who use the service. We looked at three people's care records. We spoke with four staff and looked at three staff records. At the time of the inspection the service was providing care and support to eight people.

Is the service safe?

People told us they felt safe. Safeguarding procedures were robust and staff understood how to safeguard people they supported. Staff knew about risk management plans and care records were detailed and person centred promoting people's rights and dignity. One person told us: 'I tell staff if I do not like something.' We observed people were comfortable in interacting with staff and staff were polite, responsive and knowledgeable about people's individual needs and preferences.

Systems were in place to make sure managers and staff learnt from events such as accidents/incidents, complaints, concerns, whistleblowing and investigations. This reduced the risks to people and helped the service to continually improve.

The provider took people's care needs and preferences into account when making decisions about the numbers, skills and experience required when allocating staff. This helped to ensure people's needs were always met.

Recruitment practice was safe and thorough. Policies and procedures were in place to make sure people were protected.

We observed the environment was suitably designed and adequately maintained and regular maintenance was carried out including fire alarm and fire equipment tests, environmental health audits and water and gas safety checks.

Is the service effective?

People's care needs were assessed with them. Care plans reflected people's current needs, choice and preferences and were reviewed regularly with them. We observed people using the service communicating their wishes with staff and the staff were responsive and effective.

Is the service caring?

Feedback from people was positive, for example, one person told us: 'I like all the staff.' When speaking with staff it was clear they genuinely cared for the people they supported.

People's preferences, interests, aspirations and diverse needs had been recorded and care and support had been provided in accordance with people's wishes.

Is the service responsive?

People were offered support to make a complaint if they were unhappy. People could be assured complaints were investigated and action taken as necessary.

The service worked with other agencies and services to make sure people received care in a consistent way. People had access to health care professionals such as the GP, dentist, optician and hospital appointments which meant people were supported to keep healthy and well.

People using the service, their relatives, friends and other professionals involved with the service completed an annual satisfaction survey. Where concerns were raised these were dealt with.

Is the service well-led?

The service had a quality assurance system, and records showed issues were addressed promptly. Staff told us they were clear about their roles and responsibilities. This helped ensure people received a good quality service at all times

We found the provider had in place business contingency plans for management of extraordinary events such as lighting or heating failure and staff were aware of the policies and procedures to follow.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who use the service. This was because the people who use the service had complex needs which meant they were not able to tell us about their experiences. We spent time observing what people did during the day. We also used observations of the interactions between people who use the service and the care workers to inform the judgements reached within this report.

We found there were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.

The people we spoke with told us staff helped them with personal care and supported them to participate in group visits and activities. Two care workers told us they had been provided with appropriate training courses, one of which was safeguarding training, which they had both completed in the last twelve months to support them to recognise different types of abuse and understand what their duties and responsibilities were with regards to safeguarding vulnerable adults.

The people who use the service told us they felt safe in the house because the staff were always on hand to provide guidance and support. Two people we spoke with expressed a clear understanding of the complaints procedures in operation in the house, and expressed that, if they had any issues, they knew how to raise concerns with staff.

People were supported to be part of the local community. People who used the service had individual weekly activities plans. These were written from the person's point of view and detailed things each person liked to do.

Care plans contained detailed information about each person's health and social care needs, as well as the goals and objectives of the support being given.

People we spoke with told us they felt safe at the home. They told us if they did not feel safe, they felt there was someone they could talk to.