Archived: Blossom Community Care

Updated 11 June 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 was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We undertook an unannounced inspection on 24 March 2015 of Blossom Community Care. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before we visited the home we checked the information that we held about the service and the service provider including notifications about significant incidents affecting the safety and well-being of people who used the service.

During this inspection we observed how the staff interacted with and supported people who used the service. We reviewed three care plans, three staff files, training records and records relating to the management of the service such as audits, policies and procedures. We spoke with two people who used the service, the registered manager, four members of staff and one social care professional.

Updated 11 June 2015

This inspection took place on 24 March 2015 and was unannounced. The provider met all the standards we inspected against at our last inspection on 1 July 2014.

Blossom community care provides care and support to a maximum of three adults with mental health problems. At the time of our inspection, there were three people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

On the day of the inspection, two of the three people who use the service were out for the majority of the day.

The provider had taken steps and arrangements were in place to help ensure people were protected from abuse, or the risk of abuse. During our inspection, we saw arrangements were in place in relation to the recording and administration of medicines. However we saw that one storage cupboard for medicines was not locked and therefore there was a risk that this was accessible to people. We raised this with the registered manager who confirmed that a lock would be placed on the cupboard.

We saw there were recruitment and selection procedures in place to ensure people were safe and not at risk of being looked after by people who were unsuitable. We looked at the recruitment records for three staff and found that there were gaps in respect of background checks for safer recruitment.

There were enough staff available at the service and staffing levels were determined according to people’s individual needs.

Emergency procedures were clear and staff knew what to do in the event of an emergency.

People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs. Care plans were person-centred, detailed and specific to each person and their needs. People were consulted and their care preferences were also reflected.

Staff had the knowledge and skills they needed to perform their roles. Care staff spoke positively about their experiences working at the home.

CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. DoLS ensure that an individual being deprived of their liberty is monitored and the reasons why they are being restricted is regularly reviewed to make sure it is still in the person’s best interests. No DoLS applications had been submitted as people were not restricted.

Positive caring relationships had developed between people who used the service and staff and people were treated with kindness and compassion. People were being treated with respect and dignity and staff provided prompt assistance but also encouraged people to build and retain their independent living skills.

The service had an open and transparent culture in which people were encouraged to have their say and staff were supported to improve their practice. We found the home had a clear management structure in place with a team of care staff and the registered manager. The home had a system in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. The registered manager checked the service regularly and took action to make improvements.

Various policies and procedures lacked comprehensive information and failed to provide information that was specific to the running of the home.

We found areas where the service required improvement and have made recommendations. You can see what recommendations we have told the provider to make in the full version of this report.