Archived: Southside House

The home had a registered manager. 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We carried out a previous inspection of this service in October 2013 where we found the service was meeting the requirements in the areas we looked at.

This inspection took place on 5 December 2016 and was unannounced. At the time of our inspection there were five people living in Southside House. People who lived in Southside House were highly independent but had some needs which meant they required staff support.

People’s individual needs had been identified and plans had been put in place to ensure staff met those needs. People who lived in the home were encouraged to be as independent as possible in line with their capabilities. People were protected from risks relating to their health, medicines, moods and behaviours. Staff had assessed individual risks to people and had taken action to put plans in place to minimise these risks. People told us they felt safe at the home and made comments including “I feel safe” and “When I haven’t been very well they’ve been brilliant.”

Staff supported most people to take their medicines, this was done safely and staff competencies relating to the administration of medicines were checked. Regular medicine audits ensured people were receiving medicines as prescribed by their doctor. Staff knew how to recognise possible signs of abuse which also helped protect people. Staff knew what signs to look out for and the procedures to follow should they need to report concerns. Safeguarding information and contact numbers for the relevant bodies were accessible. Staff told us they felt comfortable raising concerns.

Recruitment procedures were in place to ensure only people of good character were employed by the home. Staff underwent Disclosure and Barring Service (police record) checks before they started work in order to ensure they were suitable to work with people who were vulnerable. Staffing numbers at Southside House were sufficient to meet people’s needs and provide them with individual support and time to take part in their chosen activities.

People spoke highly of the staff at the home and their caring attitudes. Comments from people included “All the staff are lovely”, “They bend over backwards for us, they really do” and “They couldn’t do more if they tried.” Staff spent time with people individually and knew people’s needs, preferences, likes and dislikes. Staff understood people’s preferred communication methods and used these to involve people in their care and support them to make choices.

Staff had the skills required to meet people’s needs. We found some training had not been completed by staff but found no evidence this had impacted on people living in Southside House. The registered manager assured us, however, this training would be organised as soon as possible.

Staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and had received training in this area. People were supported to make decisions for themselves and their capacity had been assessed. People were able to make themselves meals and drinks and received support from staff where needed. People could help themselves to foods and fluids that met their needs and preferences.

The registered manager of Southside House worked shifts alongside staff. They led by example to ensure best practice was followed. People and staff spoke highly of the registered manager and told us they were approachable. Comments from people included “The manager is nice and approachable” and “She always says if you’ve got a problem come and talk to me.” People and relatives were asked for their feedback and suggestions in order to improve the service provided and there were systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the support being provided at the home.

We identified some concerns with the maintenance of records at the home and have made a recommendation for the provider to review the systems in place for ensuring records are kept up to date.

We saw that both written complaints procedures and pictorial information about raising concerns were available to the people who used the service.

We read that each person had a plan which described the support they required; in this we read people's choices were recorded and implemented. We saw there were risk assessments in place for some people which promoted well-being and prevented crisis.

Since our last visit the structure of the organisation had changed and the manager was now based at the home. People told us this had made a difference to the feel of the home. People we spoke with told us the house was now very homely and the manager worked with them to do what they wished to do. One person told us 'it flows better now the manager is here, they are pretty easy going but they keep an eye on us.'

We saw areas of the home had been redecorated and appeared comfortably furnished.

We found at our last inspection in October 2012 that Southside House was inconsistent in assessing the quality of service provision. This had been addressed by the manager and the service was now judged compliant.

We observed that people were comfortable and familiar with the staff. We looked at the care records for people who lived in the home. The records included a very clear assessment of people's needs.

The manager took responsibility for ensuring all people who lived in the home had an up to date assessment of their support needs. We saw that people who used the service were supported to be involved in their support planning. We saw in support plans that people were encouraged and supported to access other healthcare professionals as needed.

We found that Southside House were inconsistent in assessing the quality of service provision and this may impact on people who used the service.