Background to this inspection
Updated
13 February 2015
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 5 January 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team included an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Our Expert by Experience had experience of mental health needs.
Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. Providers are required by law to notify us about events and incidents that occur; we refer to these as notifications. We looked at notifications that the provider had sent to us. The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about their service, how it is meeting the five questions, and what improvements they plan to make. We used the information we had gathered to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection.
On the day of our inspection we spoke with seven people who lived there. We also spoke with five staff and the registered manager. As part of our evidence gathering we spoke with three health and social care professionals. Those professionals did not raise any concerns. We spent time in communal areas observing daily routines and the interactions between staff and the people who lived there. We looked at the care files for three people, medication records for eight people, recruitment records for two staff, complaints records and audit processes the provider had in place to monitor the service.
Updated
13 February 2015
Our inspection took place on 5 January 2015.
At our last inspection in June 2013 the provider was meeting all of the regulations that we assessed.
The provider is registered to accommodate and deliver personal and nursing care to a maximum of 16 adults who may have a mental health diagnosis. At the time of our inspection 14 people lived there.
A manager was registered with us as is required by law. 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.
Staffing levels were not determined as a result of a robust review. Therefore, the provider could not ensure that people’s needs would be consistently met.
Not all areas of environmental risk were assessed which potentially could increase the risk of people self-harming.
One person we spoke with told us that they did not always feel safe (we spoke with/informed external health and social care professionals about what the person told us). All other people told us that they did feel safe. We saw that there were systems in place to protect people from the risk abuse.
People told us that it was good living there. The health and social care professionals we spoke with during our inspection process highlighted that the service provided was effective in meeting people’s needs.
People told us that they were supported to do their own food shopping and where able, cook their own meals and they were happy with this.
People we spoke with described the staff as being kind and caring and our observations showed that they were. We saw that interactions between staff and the people who lived there were positive in that staff were respectful, polite and helpful to people.
People received care in line with their best interests. We found that advocacy services were secured when there was a need to ensure that people were given the opportunity to make informed decisions.
Staff gave us an account of what Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) meant and what they should do if they identified any DoLS issues.
Staff told us that they were provided with the training that they required. This ensured that they had the skills and knowledge to provide safe and appropriate support to the people who lived there. Staff also told us that were adequately supported in their job roles.
We found that a complaints system was available for people to use. This meant that people and their relatives could state their concerns and dissatisfaction and issues would be looked into.
People, staff and external health and social care professionals we spoke with told us that they felt that the service was run in their best interests of the people who lived there.