Archived: Glen Cottage

Glen Cottage is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for one person. The home is located in a residential area close to community facilities. At the time of the inspection there was one person living at Glen Cottage.

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

The person had a stable staff team caring for them and this helped to ensure they were safe and secure. Medicines were administered safely by staff who had received training and had been assessed as competent. The service was overall visibly clean. Staff received training in safeguarding adults from harm and had a positive attitude to reporting concerns.

Care plans were holistic and detailed. Staff were, overall, suitably trained, well supported and had the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their roles and meet their responsibilities. Meal choices were provided, and the person was supported to eat a healthy and nutritious diet. The design and layout of the building was suitable but some of the internal décor and fixtures and fittings would benefit from being updated or replaced.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensured that the person lived as full a life as possible. They had maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests.

Staff had developed caring and meaningful relationships with the person. Staff understood the importance of providing dignified care and of maintaining the person’s independence.

The small and stable staff team knew the person well and this helped to ensure that they received person centred care that met their individual needs. Their communication needs were identified and planned for. Meaningful activities were provided, although not always well evidenced.

Feedback about the registered manager was positive. The registered manager was open and collaborative and worked in partnership with staff, local organisations and agencies to strengthen local relationships and improve care.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was ‘Good’ (May 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Community Integrated Care are a national charity delivering care and support to people with a diverse range of needs including people with learning disabilities, mental health concerns and health related problems. Glen Cottage is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for one person. The home is located in a residential area close to community facilities. At the time of the inspection there was one person living at Glen Cottage.

The service 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 legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager also managed three of the provider’s other registered services in the local area and was providing temporary management support to a nearby supported living service managed by the provider.

Our last inspection had found that mental capacity assessments had not been undertaken when required and that aspects of the care and support being delivered, whilst in the person’s best interests, amounted to a deprivation of the person’s liberty, however, an application to authorise the restrictions had not been submitted. The application had now been submitted to the local authority and was awaiting approval and relevant mental capacity assessments were now in place. This meant that the person was supported to have maximum choice and control of their life and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Recruitment practices needed to be more robust to ensure that all of the relevant checks were completed. Full employment histories had not been obtained for two staff members. This information has now been obtained.

Improvements could be made to the training programme to ensure that staff had more up to date training which was also specific to the needs of the person using the service. We have made a recommendation about this.

Relevant risk assessments were in place and covered activities and associated health and safety issues both within the home and in the community.

Staff had received training in safeguarding adults, and had a good understanding of the signs of abuse and neglect. Staff had clear guidance about what they must do if they suspected abuse was taking place.

There was sufficient staff to meet the person’s needs. The person was supported by a stable staff team who were experienced and knew and understood their needs.

Appropriate arrangements were in place to manage the person’s medicines. There were policies and procedures in place to ensure the safe handling and administration of medicines, which were only administered by staff that had been trained to do this.

The person was supported to have enough to eat and drink and their support plans included information about their dietary needs and risks in relation to nutrition and hydration. Staff involved the person in decisions about what they ate and they were assisted to remain as independent as possible with eating and drinking.

Where necessary a range of healthcare professionals had been involved in planning the person’s support to ensure their health care needs were met.

We observed interactions between staff and the person which were relaxed and calm. Staff showed the person kindness, patience and respect. Staff were aware from the person’s body language whether they were comfortable with the care being provided or wanted space or time on their own.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality and safety of the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The service regularly updated their assessment of the person's needs and amended their care plans as required. This ensured the person's care plans reflected changes within their needs. The person's care plans identified clear health needs and we saw these were managed with support from visiting health professionals. We observed the person was treated with dignity and respect by staff supporting them.

We found medicines were ordered and administered in line with the provider's policy. Records were maintained of all medicines administered and staff received appropriate training to administer them safely.

The manager explained the recruitment process they followed and shared the records of recruitment used by the provider. We saw staff had undertaken all appropriate checks to ensure they were fit and of good character to support the individual.

The provider monitored the quality of service delivery on a regular basis. This ensured risks were managed and the person received safe care and support.

We saw how the person responded when their relative phoned and they could hear their voice. This was a positive response and the person appeared happy that they would see the relative soon. The relative told us that they were very pleased with the support the person received and was happy that they were safe in their own home.

We saw that staff responded to cues given by the person and responded in a way to make the person comfortable and happy. The service was person centred and reflected a knowledge and understanding of the person's likes, dislikes and wishes.