Lindsay House

Lindsay House is a residential care home which is registered to provide a supported living service for people with a mental health diagnosis. The service can support up to 15 people who require personal care support.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection five people were receiving personal care.

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

People continued to receive safe care and were protected against avoidable harm, neglect and discrimination. There were systems in place to make sure the service was safe, with good staffing levels and skilled staff to deliver good quality care.

Risks to people were fully assessed and well managed. Staff had been safely recruited to meet people's needs and there were sufficient staff to support people. People’s medicines were safely managed, and systems were in place to control and prevent the spread of infection.

People's care needs were assessed before they went to live at the service. Staff received an induction and ongoing training that enabled them to have the skills and knowledge to provide effective care.

People were supported to eat and drink enough. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and access healthcare services when required.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff provided care and support in a caring and meaningful way. They knew the people who used the service well. People and relatives, where appropriate, were involved in the planning of their care and support. People's privacy and dignity was maintained at all times.

Care plans supported staff to provide personalised care. People were encouraged to take part in activities and interests of their choice. There was a complaints procedure in place and systems in place to deal with complaints effectively. The service provided appropriate end of life care to people when required.

The service continued to be well managed. The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Actions were taken, and improvements were made when needed. Staff felt well supported and said the management team were open and approachable. The service worked in partnership with outside agencies.

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

Rating at last inspection.

The last rating for this service was Good (published 29 June 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.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff were appropriately recruited and there were enough staff to provide care and support to meet people’s needs. People were consistently protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and on-going professional development that they required to carry out their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People developed positive relationships with the staff; who were caring and treated people with respect, kindness and courtesy. People had detailed personalised plans of care in place to enable staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences. People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and the provider had effective systems in place to manage any complaints that they may receive.

The service had a positive ethos and an open culture. The registered manager and deputy manager were positive role models in the service. People and other professionals told us that they had confidence in the manager’s ability to provide consistently high quality managerial oversight and leadership to the service.

Is the service safe?

We found that people's needs had been appropriately assessed before they were provided with care and support. We saw documentary evidence of this in the two files we looked at. This meant that staff had the information they needed about people's care and support needs and were able to support people in their recovery safely.

Is the service effective?

We saw that individualised care plans and risk assessments were in place which ensured people were supported in an effective way. It was clear from our observations and from speaking with staff that they had a good understanding of the individual care and support needs that people required.

Is the service caring?

We observed staff responding to people with patience and gave them time to be as independent as possible. We saw that people were supported by knowledgeable and approachable staff. We heard staff speak to people in an encouraging and sensitive way which evidenced their knowledge of people's individual needs. We found that whenever possible people had been involved in the planning of their care and support requirements so that their wishes were respected. A relative told us 'the staff here have been fantastic'.

Is the service responsive?

We found that people's needs had been reviewed and changes made to staffing levels in order to respond to the change in one person's requirements. We also found that assessments had included identifying any risks to people and detailing how staff should promptly care for people to support their safety and well-being. We read that when people had become unwell clinical professionals had been contacted promptly so that assessment or treatment could be given.

Is the service well led?

The staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the ethos of Lyndsay House and their individual part they played to ensure that people were well supported in all of their day to day activities. The manager provided us with evidence that supported our findings that the service was well managed.

We spoke with two people who used the service. We also spoke with two members of staff and the registered manager. We reviewed the support records of three people and looked at staff training and development records. We also looked at the systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service provided.

People told us they were happy living at Lindsay House and that staff supported them to live an independent life. One person told us they had not been very well and the staff were supporting them to take their medicines. They also told us that they would like a hand rail put in place to make sure they could use their shower in a safe way. During our inspection visit, we observed that people looked well cared for and staff provided support in a relaxed and friendly way.

We found that most people received care that met their needs. However, we had some concerns that support plans had not been put in place to meet one person's individual needs. We also found that staff were well supported and trained to do their jobs. We found that the provider had a system of quality assurance in place and that records were stored safely and securely.

We spoke with three people living at Lindsay House. They all told us that they were pleased with the improvements that had been made to the premises. One person said that they liked the new living room because it was clean and had new furniture. Another person told us that their bedroom had been recently re-decorated and that they had been given new curtains, which they were happy with.

The people also told us that they received regular staff support with the cleaning of their bedrooms and bathrooms. This helped them to make sure that their personal space was kept clean and tidy.

A few people told us that the staff weighed them and checked their blood pressure on a regular basis to make sure they were healthy. Another person told us that they had discussed their care plan with a member of staff and they had signed the plan to agree with their care. Some people told us that the staff were busy working and did not have much time to spend with them. A few people told us that they wanted to be supported by staff to do more activities such as; going swimming, making their own breakfast and going on a holiday.

We had concerns about the service people received at Lindsay House. This was because people's individual needs were not been reviewed by staff. We also found that the home was in a poor state of repair and was in need of cleaning, because certain areas in the home were dirty. One person told us that their shower did not work and that their curtains were in need of cleaning. Another person told us that the living room looked 'nice' because it had been recently re-painted. They also told us that their bedroom was in need of re-decoration and that 'the cushions and settees need replacing' in the lounge.