Archived: St Helens House

We reviewed the recruitment practice and associated documentation. We found the home followed robust recruitment processes for the recruitment of new staff.

We saw staff asked for people's consent before they provided any care or treatment. People, who were able to, told us they were asked for their consent before any care and support was provided. One person told us 'I could not be looked after better, I am very happy with the way the staff look after me. I have a bath when I want but they do not say I have to have one' Another told us that they were involved in writing their plan of care and agreed to the care provided.'

We looked at systems in place in relation to the cleanliness and infection control. The standard of cleanliness and hygiene had improved.

We saw that people received their medicines as prescribed and systems were in place to protect people against the risk associated with medicines management.

We reviewed the recruitment practice and staffing provision we found the home did not follow robust recruitment processes but there were suitable staffing arrangements in place to meet the needs of people with the current occupancy.

We looked at systems in place in relation to the cleanliness and infection control. The standard of cleanliness and hygiene had been improved since the last inspection visit completed in May 2012. However, systems to maintain and monitor good standards of cleanliness and infection control were not established.

We reviewed the recruitment practice and found some concerns about the process. We looked at the staffing arrangements and found that they were not based on the assessed needs of people who used the service. Although staff and people told us that the staffing arrangements were safe, there was evidence that they did not meet the needs of people.