We carried out a review of the data available to us about Milehouse Lane on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Milehouse Lane, you can give feedback on this service.
Following the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to tell us how they would make the required improvements to meet the legal requirements. At this inspection we found that the provider had made the necessary improvements and therefore improved the quality of the service provided at Milehouse Lane.
Milehouse Lane provides accommodation and personal care for up to seven people who have a learning disability and the home was fully occupied on the day we inspected.
Accommodation is provided over two floors. All bedrooms are for single occupancy and there are separate toilets and bathroom/shower facilities. There is a kitchen, communal areas, including a dining room, a lounge and a conservatory for people and their visitors to use.
There was a new manager in post who was in the process of applying to become the registered manager of the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The majority of people who lived at the home were unable to communicate verbally but we observed staff supporting people with a range of communication aids, which included signing and interpreting people’s body language with regards to meeting their needs and wishes. People welcomed us into their home and told us they felt safe and happy living at Milehouse Lane.
We found that people were supported to take their medicines by trained staff. We saw that staff followed safe practices and medicines were accurately documented and stock levels checked were correct.
People felt safe living at Milehouse lane. Staff understood how to keep people safe and risks to people's safety and well-being were identified and managed. The home was calm and people's needs were met in a timely manner by sufficient numbers of skilled and experienced staff. The provider operated a thorough recruitment processes which helped to ensure that staff employed to provide care and support for people were fit to do so.
We found that staff received regular one to one supervision and felt supported and valued. People received the support they needed to eat and drink sufficient quantities and their health needs were catered for with appropriate referrals made to external health professionals when needed.
Relatives complimented the staff team for being kind and caring. Staffs were knowledgeable about individuals' care and support needs and preferences and people had been involved in the planning of their care where they were able. Visitors to the home were encouraged at any time of the day.
The manager had arrangements in place to receive feedback from people who used the service, their relatives, external stakeholders and staff members about the services provided. There was an effective system in place for people to raise complaints about the service they received.
There was an open and respectful culture in the home and relatives and staff were comfortable to speak with the manager if they had a concern. The manager had arrangements to regularly monitor health and safety and the quality of the care and support provided for people who used the service.
Accommodation is provided over two floors. All bedrooms are for single occupancy and there are separate toilets and bathroom/shower facilities. There is a kitchen, communal areas, including a dining room, a lounge and a conservatory for people and their visitors to use.
The inspection took place on 31 March 2016 and was unannounced. The home had a registered manager in post, 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 the service is run.
Although we found sufficient numbers of staff were deployed to provide care and support to people living at Milehouse Lane, on occasions we saw from the staff rotas that people were required to work, excessive hours in order to cover vacancies. Risk assessments had not always been developed to positively manage risks to people.
People’s wellbeing was not always supported by staff who met their individual needs and preferences by ensuring people’s social needs and nutritional needs were met.
Medicines were not always managed effectively or safely.
People were supported by staff who had undergone a recruitment process that ensured they were of sufficiently good character to provide care to people.
Staff felt supported by the manager to enable them to carry out their role sufficiently although staff had not been provided with regular supervision. Staff had received training relevant to their role.
We saw that people had access to a range of health professionals, and records demonstrated they were referred to other professionals appropriately when their needs changed.
Staff spoke to people in a kind, patient and friendly way, however we observed staff, on occasions spoke to people in an ’Infantile’ manner.
People did not always receive high quality care that was well led. The systems in place to assess and monitor the service had failed to identify errors in medicines and infection control which placed people at risk of harm.
We found that people were not offered the opportunity to offer their views or opinions on the service provided due to information being provided in a format that not everyone at the home could comprehend.
We found four breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.