Archived: Care Management Group - 72 Croydon Road

Care Management Group – 72 Croydon Road is a residential care service that offers housing and personal support for up to six adults who have a varying range of needs including learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection six people were using the service. At our last inspection in April 2015 we found that the service was overall good and rated good for the five key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

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.

Staff helped to make sure people were safe at Care Management Group – 72 Croydon Road and in the community by looking at the risks they may face and by taking steps to reduce those risks while still encouraging people’s independence.

Staffing levels were adequate to keep people safe and an ongoing recruitment program was in place. The registered manager used the same bank and agency staff where possible to keep continuity in the care people received.

Staff competency was assessed when giving people’s medicines. Any medicine errors identified were dealt with quickly and appropriately to keep people safe. Medicines were stored safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff felt they had enough training to do their jobs well and records confirmed an ongoing, monitored training program was in place.

People were offered choices and supported to feel involved. Many people at the service were unable to verbally communicate. Staff were working with healthcare professionals to improve the way they communicated with people and were looking at different ways of involving people in the care and support they received. People were observed to be relaxed and comfortable in the company of staff. Staff supported people in a way which was kind, caring, and respectful.

Staff helped people to keep healthy and well and, they supported people to attend appointments with GP’s and other healthcare professionals when they needed to. People were involved in their food and drink choices and meals were prepared taking account of people’s health, cultural and religious needs.

Care records focused on people as individuals and gave clear information to people and staff. People were appropriately supported by staff to make decisions about their care and support needs. These were reviewed with them regularly by staff. Staff encouraged people to follow their own activities and interests.

Relatives told us they felt comfortable raising any concerns they had with staff and knew how to make a complaint if needed.

The provider regularly sought people’s and staff’s views about how the care and support they received could be improved. There were systems in place to monitor the safety and quality of the service that people experienced.

We met all of the people who used the service, three members of staff, the deputy manager and the interim manager. We were able to observe that people's experience of the service was a positive one. During our inspection we saw staff always treated people with respect and dignity and people were supported to make informed decisions about how they lived their lives. One staff member told us 'I love working here, I learn something new every day and see people's progress and that motivates me'.

We also gathered evidence of people's experiences of the service by speaking to the interim manager and other staff who worked in the home and by reviewing various records the provider is required to keep.

We saw that policies and procedures had been put in place to ensure the safety and well-being of people using the service and we saw evidence of a quality assurance system regularly monitored by the provider.