Archived: Dee House

Updated 21 April 2016

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 20 March 2016 and was unannounced. Our inspection team consisted of one social care inspector.

We spent time observing the interaction between people who lived at the home and staff.

We looked at some areas of the home, including some bedrooms (with people’s permission), communal areas, and office accommodation.

We met with all the people who used the service and spoke in detail with three people. We also spoke with two visiting family members. We spoke with the registered manager and three members of support staff. We looked at care records for three people, recruitment and training records for three members of staff and records relating to the management of the service.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications of incidents that the provider had sent us since the last inspection. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We contacted the local authority safeguarding and quality monitoring teams who did not identify any areas of concern.

Updated 21 April 2016

This was an unannounced inspection, carried out on 20 March 2016.

Dee House provides accommodation and personal care for up to nine people who have mental health needs. Accommodation for residents is comprised of nine single rooms, two lounge areas, a dining room, kitchen and separate laundry. The service is within walking distance of local amenities and bus routes.

The registered manager had worked at the service since it opened 25 years ago. The registered manager had been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) since September 2011. 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.

The last inspection of Dee House was carried out in May 2014 and we found that the service was meeting all the regulations we assessed.

People who used the service said they felt safe. Staff knew about the systems in place to protect people from the risk of harm and they also knew how to recognise and respond to abuse correctly.

There were sufficient staff on duty to ensure the needs of people were met. Effective recruitment processes were in place and were followed by the service. Staff received on-going training and support to ensure they carried out their role effectively.

Medicines were managed safely and processes in place ensured that the administration and handling of medicines was suitable for the people who used the service. People received care and support from staff that knew them well, and had the knowledge and skills to meet people’s individual needs. People told us staff always treated them well and promoted their choices regarding their care, support and the activities they participated in. People spoke positively about staff, their comments included, “The staff are all friendly and approachable” and “I like all the staff”.

People’s risks were anticipated, identified and monitored. Staff managed risk effectively and supported people’s decisions, so they had as much control and independence as possible.

The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. We saw that there were policies and procedures in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and DoLS to ensure that people who could not make decisions for themselves were protected.

People had enough to eat and drink. People were offered drinks and snacks throughout the day. People who were at risk of poor nourishment were regularly weighed.

Staff were patient and friendly and knew people well. Staff interacted well with people and engaged in conversation with them about things of interest.

People’s care and support needs were up to date and reviewed on a regular basis with the person or other appropriate people. Staff provided people with person centred care and support.

No formal complaints had been made to the registered provider since the last inspection in May 2014. People were aware of how to make a complaint if required and they told us they would not be worried about complaining if they needed to. People were confident that their complaints would be listened to and acted upon.

Systems were in place to regularly check the quality of the service provided and to ensure improvements to the service were made. The registered manager and staff established good working relationships with family members and visiting professionals to the benefit of people who used the service.