Housteads

Housteads is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 40 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. There were 32 people living at Housteads at the time of inspection. The home is situated in the Richmond area of Sheffield, close to local amenities and transport links. Accommodation is based on the ground floor. All of the bedrooms are single and communal lounges and dining rooms are provided. The home has a secure enclosed garden and car park.

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

Medicines were managed well, so people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff meetings were held every three months. Staffing was appropriate to meet people’s needs and staff were visible at all times during the inspection. Robust recruitment procedures ensured suitable staff were employed. People were supported by staff who understood how to identify and report potential abuse. People told us they felt very safe and risks to people’s health and safety were managed well. When accidents or incidents occurred, learning was identified to reduce the risk of them happening again.

There was a positive leadership in the service. People and their relatives spoke highly of the staff and registered manager. The registered manager was interviewing for new staff at the time of inspection, however was very visible in the home. Audits and monitoring procedures were in place and since the last inspection these included a fire and risk assessment plan, these were used effectively to manage the service and to make improvements where needed.

People's care plans reflected the person current needs. Staff said they read and followed care plans and knew people well. People's wishes regarding their end of were in place if and when required. People had access to a good range of activities and told us they enjoyed these. We observed this on inspection. People and relatives were confident to raise issues and concerns. Complaints procedures were effective.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People had the support they needed to maintain a balanced diet and good health. Staff received training and support they needed to give them the knowledge and skills needed to care for people safely and effectively.

Staff promoted very caring relationships with the people who lived at the service. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and promoted independence, equality and diversity throughout. People and their relatives were involved in the planning and delivery of their care. Relative’s told us they felt welcome and involved in the home.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (20 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Housteads on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

There was a manager at the service who had been in post since December 2016 as acting manager. The manager took up the permanent manager role on1 April 2017. The manager had applied to register 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Our last inspection at Housteads took place on 26 May 2015. We found a breach in the regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, in regard to regulation 18; Staffing. The registered provider sent an action plan detailing how they were going to make improvements. At this inspection we checked improvements the registered provider had made. We found sufficient improvements had been made to meet the requirements of Regulation 18: Staffing, as staff had been provided with supervisions and appraisals at the frequency set out in the registered provider’s policy.

This inspection took place on 23 May 2017 and was unannounced. This meant the people who lived at Housteads and the staff who worked there did not know we were coming. On the day of our inspection there were 39 people living at Housteads.

People spoken with were very positive about their experience of living at Housteads. They told us they were happy, felt safe and were respected.

We found systems were in place to make sure people received their medicines safely so their health was looked after. PRN (as and when needed) medicine protocols were in place to ensure staff knew when PRN medicine was required. One person’s PRN protocol could not be located and was forwarded to us during the evening of this inspection.

Staff recruitment procedures ensured people’s safety was promoted.

Sufficient numbers of staff were provided to meet people’s needs.

Staff were provided with relevant training so they had the skills they needed to undertake their role. Some staff had a basic understanding of the Mental Capacity Act and would benefit from further training to enhance their skills and knowledge in this area.

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

People had access to a range of health care professionals to help maintain their health. A varied diet was provided, which took into account dietary needs and preferences so people’s health was promoted and choices could be respected.

Staff knew people well and positive, caring relationships had been developed. People were encouraged to express their views and they were involved in decisions about their care. People’s privacy and dignity was respected and promoted. Staff understood how to support people in a sensitive way.

A programme of activities was in place so people were provided with a range of leisure opportunities.

People said they could speak with staff if they had any worries or concerns and they would be listened to.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Regular checks and audits were undertaken to make sure full and safe procedures were adhered to. The efficiency of the quality assurance monitoring systems would be further improved by including the fire risk assessment action plan so this can be closely monitored to make sure recommended actions are undertaken and recorded.

People living at the home told us that they were happy and that they were satisfied with the care they received. They told us, "it's alright here, the staff are kind," "the staff know me and try their very best" and "I feel well looked after."

Three relatives spoken with said that they were happy with the care their loved one received. They told us, 'it is brilliant here. They (staff) can't do enough' and "we have no worries at all. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this home."

We found that care and support was offered appropriately to people.

We found that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the staff acted in accordance with their wishes.

We found that people's care and welfare needs were assessed and each person had a written plan of care that set out their identified needs and the actions required of staff to meet these.

We found that medicines were being obtained, recorded, handled, dispensed and disposed of in a safe way.

The provider had a satisfactory recruitment and selection procedure in place to ensure that staff were appropriately employed.

The provider had an effective complaints system available.