Archived: Clifton Manor Limited

This was an unannounced inspection and took place on 25 and 28 November 2014. At our previous visit in May 2013, we judged that the service was meeting all the regulations that we looked at. Clifton Manor is a care home providing personal care and support for up to eight adults with a learning disability. At the time of our visit there were six people with moderate learning disabilities using the service.

The service has a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 a service is run.

People told us they felt safe at the home. There were arrangements in place to help safeguard people from the risk of abuse. The provider had appropriate policies and procedures in place to inform people who used the service, their relatives and staff about how to report suspected abuse.

People had risk assessments and risk management plans to reduce the likelihood of risk. Staff knew how to use the information to keep people safe.

Staff knew about the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which care homes are required to meet. There were procedures in place that could be used if they were needed. We found that staff sought people’s consent before providing care. The DoLS refers to the framework of safeguards under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 for people who need to be deprived of their liberty in a hospital or care home in their best interests for care or treatment and who lack the capacity to consent to the arrangements made for their care or treatment.

There were enough staff to help keep people safe and the home had safe recruitment procedures to help protect people from the risks of being cared for by staff assessed to be unfit or unsuitable.

Staff received training in areas of their work identified as essential by the provider but not all the staff were trained in manual handling or in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The manager told us that those staff who had not received this training were enrolled on the next available training courses. We saw documented evidence of this.

Appropriate arrangements were in place in relation to obtaining, storing, administering and the recording of medicines which helped to ensure they were given to people safely.

People were involved in planning their care and their views or that of their relatives where relevant were sought when decisions needed to be made about how they were cared for. The service involved them in discussions about any changes that needed to be made to keep them safe and promote their wellbeing.

Staff respected people’s privacy and treated them with respect and dignity.

People indicated that they felt that the service responded to their needs and individual preferences. Staff supported people according to their personalised care plans, including supporting them to access community-based activities.

The service encouraged people to raise any concerns they had and responded to them in a timely manner. People and their relatives were aware of the complaints policy.

People gave positive feedback about the management of the service. There was an open and positive family feel at this home. The registered manager and the staff were approachable and fully engaged with providing good quality care for people who lived there. The provider had systems in place to continually monitor the quality of the service and people were asked for their opinions via surveys and action plans were developed where required to address areas for improvements.