St Anne's Community Services - Creykes Lodge

St Anne’s Community Services – Creykes Lodge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 6 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to six people.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

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.

People were safe using the service. There were enough, safely recruited staff and risks were well assessed and managed. People received medicines when they needed them and there were good processes in place to make sure people reduced their medicine intake when appropriate. Lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

Staff were well trained and supported by managers to provide effective care in line with people’s assessed needs. People had a good diet and were supported to maintain a good standard of overall health. The building was well adapted to people’s needs and was not identifiable as a care home. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service was caring and provided a homely atmosphere. People’s rights were respected their independence promoted wherever possible. People were well supported to contribute to their care planning.

People’s individual communication needs were assessed, and any required adaptations were made. People could decide how and where to spend their time, and were able to access the community whenever they wished. Staff and independent professionals supported people to express any concerns about their care.

The management and staff had a passion for the service and the people they supported. The manager had a clear vision for how the service would be run, and staff supported this. National guidelines and regulations were followed, and there were good systems in place to monitor the quality of the service.

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 (published 14 July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

St Anne’s Community Services -Creykes Lodge provides personal care and accommodation for up to six adults with complex learning disabilities. The premises consist of a detached bungalow on the main road in the village of Rawcliffe, on a bus route; The home is situated close to local amenities, and the towns of Goole and Selby. The home offers single room accommodation. Six people were residing at the home on the day of the inspection visit.

At the last inspection in December 2014 the service was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service was meeting all the fundamental standards and the service remained ‘Good’.

At this inspection visit carried out in June 2017, we saw that staffing levels met the personal needs of each person who lived at the home. People were relaxed and comfortable in the presence of staff. We saw staff attending to the needs of people in a timely manner.

Arrangements were in place to protect people from risk of abuse. Staff had knowledge of safeguarding procedures and were aware of their responsibilities for reporting any concerns.

Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure checks were made on staff prior to them starting work. This allowed the service to check people’s suitability for working with vulnerable people.

Suitable arrangements were in place for managing and administering medicines for people. Good practice guidelines were consistently followed.

People were encouraged to pursue activities of their own choosing and were supported to live active lives within their community.

Care plans were in place for people who lived at the home. Care plans covered support needs and personal wishes. Plans were reviewed and updated at regular intervals and information was sought from appropriate professionals as and when required.

The service had systems in place to monitor and manage risks. Staff were encouraged to work proactively to assess and manage risk.

Relatives described staff as “knowledgeable.” We saw evidence of staff being provided with support and training. Staff told us they were supported in their role by their fellow team members and senior managers.

People were supported to have their dietary and nutritional needs met. People’s preferences were taken into consideration at meal times.

The registered manager had an active presence at the home. This enabled them to have a good oversight of what occurred at the home and this contributed to positive outcomes for people.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

The manager had implemented a range of assurance systems to monitor quality and effectiveness of the service provided. We saw audits were routinely carried out.

Staff told us that Creykes Lodge was a good place to work. Staff praised the management and the way in which the service was run. They told us communication was good and described the managers as caring and approachable.

We observed good interactions between the people who lived in the home and the staff team; when we spoke with staff they were knowledgeable about the needs of people.

People lived in a well maintained home that was clean, warm and comfortable.

Duty rotas reflected varying staffing levels to account for times when additional staffing was required to support people with activities.

Quality assurance systems were in place to audit varying areas of the home to ensure that standards were met. There was a complaint system in place and staff were aware of how to raise complaints; record keeping for complaints required improvement.