Archived: Raola House

Updated 22 September 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 was undertaken to check that the provider had made improvements to meet legal requirements after our 20 April 2015 inspection. We inspected the service against the five questions we ask about services: Is the service safe? Is the service effective? Is the service responsive? Is the service well-led? This is because the service was not meeting some legal requirements previously.

This inspection took place on 19 August 2015 and was unannounced. It was carried out by one inspector.

We looked at five people’s care plans, three staff files and other records relevant to the management of the service. We observed how staff carried out care and we spoke with two people who used the service. We also spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and two support workers.

Updated 22 September 2015

This inspection took place on 19 August 2015 and was unannounced. We carried out our last inspection on 17 November 2014 and found the service was breaching regulations in relation to safeguarding people from the risk of abuse, safe care and treatment, consent and person-centred care. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breaches.

We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had followed their action plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements and had addressed all areas where improvement was needed. We found the provider had taken all the necessary action to improve the service in respect of the breaches and issues we found at our last inspection.

This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Raola House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Raola House is a care home which provides care for up to six adults with learning disabilities. At the time of our visit, there were six people using the service. The service had a registered manager in place. 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.

During the inspection we found the provider had taken the necessary action to improve in relation to the breaches we identified at our last inspection. Staff had received training in safeguarding and safeguarding issues were regularly discussed in staff meetings and staff supervision to increase their knowledge and awareness of how to keep people safe. Staff knew the appropriate action to take if they suspected abuse was taking place to protect people. The pan-London safeguarding policy which all London local authorities follow was accessible to staff in the home and the provider had their safeguarding policy in the home for staff to refer to.

The provider had reviewed and updated people’s risk assessments and has included people’s views so staff had sufficient detail to understand the particular risks to people and what they needed to do to protect them. This meant risks to people from receiving care that was unnecessarily restrictive to them or against their wishes, were minimised.

The service had ensured people’s capacity to make decisions for themselves was assessed where appropriate. This meant that people were not receiving care that was unnecessarily restrictive or not in their best interests.

People and their relatives were involved in reviewing their care along with staff who worked closely with them. People’s care plans contained information about the life histories as well as their likes and dislikes. This helped to ensure that people received care or support that took into account their individual views or preferences.

Care plans were personalised and contained information about people which was accurate and up to date. This helped to ensure people received personalised care that was responsive to their individual needs.

Personal information about people was kept securely which mean risk to their confidentiality being compromised was reduced.

Systems the provider used to address the shortfalls we identified at our last inspection have been reviewed and improved to make these more effective and to ensure the service was meeting the relevant legal requirements.