Carville Road

Carville Road is a care home which is registered to provide personal care and accommodation for people with an acquired brain injuries. Accommodation is provided in one adapted building over two floors. The home is registered to provide care for up to 12 people. At the time of the inspection 10 people were living at the home.

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

People received care and support from a service which was well-led. The registered manager led by example and promoted and ensured the values of the organisation were embedded within the culture of the home. A range of audits were in place to monitor and review the quality of the service.

Accidents and incidents were reviewed to identify if any themes or trends were evident and to assess if measures could be taken to reduce the risks people were exposed to. Systems were in place to safeguard people from abuse and staff were confident in the actions to take. There were enough staff to meet the needs of people and safe recruitment procedures were followed.

Staff demonstrated kind and caring attitudes and always promoted the privacy and dignity of people. Staff encouraged people to be independent and people or their representative were involved in planning and reviewing their care.

Meaningful activities were available to people and staff supported people to attend social events of their choice. Visitors were welcomed into the home. People received care from staff who received training to enable them to carry out their job role effectively and staff felt well supported. One relative said, “All the staff I have come across all seem well trained. They all just seem to do what you ask them to. I just find that all the staff are lovely.”

Staff provided care to people which met their needs. 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.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 26 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.

Carville Road is a specialist service for people with an acquired brain injury, located in Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne. The facilities are purpose built and fully accessible throughout. It offers accommodation including therapy rooms, 12 ensuite bedrooms and two transitional living flats. There were seven people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

The home had a registered manager. 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 service was spacious, very clean and well maintained and furnished to a high standard. There were sufficient staff to support people with activities as well as providing support in carrying out leisure and domestic activities within the service. The provider had processes to recruit, supervise and train staff, including access to specialist training to meet individual’s needs.

Medicines management was reviewed. Suitably trained staff supported people to take their medicines safely. Where people refused their medicines, this was respected and checked over time to monitor any possible impact with an appropriate professional. People were actively supported to understand their medicines and manage their own wellbeing wherever possible.

Meals were served at times that suited people and staff supported ad hoc activities and the carrying out domestic activities within the service. The service had recently undertaken an initiative to improve people’s wellbeing and diet and a number of people had measured improvements as a result. Staff were always available and were friendly and engaging towards people.

We observed positive interactions between people and staff. Staff used recognised techniques to defuse episodes of behaviour which challenged in an appropriate manner. Staff described people in a positive way throughout the inspection and in records they maintained.

Care plans and health plans showed evidence of pre-placement assessments, care and goal planning and regular review with key workers and external professionals. These were based on best practice of person centred thinking and people were involved in setting their own goals and in regular reviews.

The service worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People’s capacity to make decisions about their care and treatment was assessed and where appropriate, “best interest” decisions were made on people’s behalf. These involved relevant healthcare professionals as well as people’s friends and family members as appropriate.

People were very complimentary about the kind and caring nature of the staff team. Staff had developed strong, caring relationships with the people they supported and were very knowledgeable about their individual needs, likes and dislikes.

The provider’s computerised training record showed that staff training was 100% up to date in line with the provider’s expectations. The service also took part in external training provided locally or when sought for specific people’s needs.

Safeguarding, accident and incident records were kept and any concerns were reported to the local authority. There was some evidence of comprehensive review and learning of these alerts or issues, many of which were episodes of behaviour which challenged.

Staff at the service all enjoyed the work they did and showed a positive attitude towards the people who used the service. This was demonstrated by their interactions and through the language they used to describe them to us. People, relatives and external professionals all told us they found the staff team proactive, caring and they ‘put people first’.

We saw the registered manager and area manager carried out regular checks and audits of records, incidents and accidents and reported on these internally and externally. There was evidence that the team was supported by a registered manager and deputy who were seen as committed and supportive of people and staff to achieve their best. The registered manager continually sought ways to improve the service further.

The service was accredited by Headway (the brain injury association).