Archived: Walsingham Support - Supported Living and Community and Home Support Services

Walsingham Support - Supported Living and Community and Home Support Services is a supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and specialist housing. It provides this service to people with a learning disability and people with a physical disability. There were 40 people using the service at the time of this inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe using the service. Staff were trained to keep people safe from abuse and to reduce their risk of experiencing avoidable harm. The provider ensured there were enough suitable staff available to deliver care safely, and at all times. People received their medicines as prescribed.

People’s needs were assessed, and they were met by skilled and supervised staff. People were treated in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff supported people to eat well and to access health services whenever they needed to.

People told us that staff were thoughtful, kind and caring. Staff supported people with their spiritual and cultural needs. People’s privacy was respected, and they were treated with dignity.

The service provided people with person centred care and people participated in the planning of their care. Staff supported people to engage in a wide range of activities. The provider responded appropriately to complaints.

The leadership of the service was being expanded at the time of our inspection to ensure continued good governance. Suggestions from people, their relatives and staff contributed to the direction the service took and they felt there was an open culture. The service worked in partnership with other agencies and continually checked the quality of care and support being delivered.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated good. The report of the inspection was published on 08 November 2016.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to check that this service remained ‘Good’

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned in line with our inspection schedule or in response to concerns.

Maldon Road is a four bedded supported living service for adults with a learning disability, including autism and poor mobility. At the time of our inspection there were four people using the service. One of the four people was in the process of moving on from the accommodation on the day of this inspection. People had their own tenancies with the housing association which owns the property. They received support with their personal care from Walsingham.

The service had a manager who was on duty at the inspection. They took up this post in April 2016 and we saw evidence they were in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. The previous registered manager moved to another post within the Walsingham organisation. 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.

At this inspection the manager and staff demonstrated their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty legislation. We saw documented evidence that discussions about depriving people of their liberty took place with the local authority for the people living at Maldon Road. In addition to this the registered manager and the staff were aware of the importance of gaining consent for the support they offered people.

Social care professionals told us they thought people were safe living at the service and they received safe care and support from staff. Staff told us the signs of potential abuse and understood the relevant reporting procedures. Assessments were completed to assess any risks to people and to the staff who supported them. At this inspection we found needs and risk assessments were reviewed and up to date. There was appropriate guidance in place for staff to follow that helped to keep people safe. We saw there were other systems in place to protect people from the risk of possible harm. There were risk assessments in place to do with the environment and equipment to provide guidance to staff on how risks could be managed and minimised where possible.

People’s needs had been assessed and we saw care plans included detailed information relating to their individual needs. Care plans were personalised and demonstrated people’s preferences, and choices. People’s care and support packages were amended as necessary to meet their changing needs.

There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s individual support and care needs. There were safe staff recruitment practices in place and appropriate recruitment checks were conducted before staff started work to help ensure people were supported by staff who were suitable for their role.

Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely and people were appropriately supported to take their medicines.

There were processes in place to ensure new staff were inducted into the service appropriately and we saw staff received regular training. Staff told us they felt well supported through their supervision, team meetings and annual appraisals.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to a range of health and social care professionals when required.

Staff were caring and compassionate in the way they met the needs of the people they supported and could describe peoples’ preferences as to how they liked to be supported. We observed staff speaking to and treating people in a respectful and caring manner. Interactions between people and staff were relaxed and friendly.

People received care and treatment in accordance with their identified needs and wishes. Care plans contained information about people’s history, choices and preferences and people’s ability to communicate. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. The manager told us that some people’s relatives were unable to visit their family members living at Maldon Road but kept in touch in other ways such as with greetings cards or by telephone calls.

Inspection of people’s files indicated they had in place detailed needs and risk assessments that informed people’s care and showed us they were person centred. Where people were able they were engaged in contributing to their own care plan. This was often achieved by staff through the use of pictorial representations and understanding their non-verbal communications and body language. This process was assisted by the staff’s good knowledge of people’s needs and the trusting relationship staff had developed with people.

People in the house were encouraged and supported to join in with a range of activities in the service and in the community that met their needs.

The provider encouraged people to raise any concerns they had and responded to them in a timely manner. People were aware of the complaints policy.

Walsingham Support Limited had a detailed quality monitoring system in place. There were also other appropriate auditing and monitoring systems in place that helped with assessing and improving quality in the service. The manager and the staff were approachable and fully engaged with providing good quality care for people who used the service.

Maldon Road is a four bedded supported living service for adults with a learning disability, including autism and poor mobility. At the time of our inspection there were three people using the service. They all had their own tenancies with the housing association which owns the property and received personal care from Walsingham.

The service had a registered manager who was not available at the inspection. A senior member of staff was acting manager for this service at the time of this inspection. After the inspection we spoke with the registered manager who said he was in the process of de-registering with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and recruitment of a new manager was in process. This new manager would then be registered with CQC. 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.

Staff were aware of the importance of gaining consent for the support they offered people. The manager and staff had some understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty legislation. We also found that proper consideration had not been given to whether restrictions on people could have amounted to a deprivation of liberty and if so whether the provider had applied for authorisations to deprive people of their liberty lawfully. The acting manager took action to address these matters when we pointed this out. We have made a recommendation in relation to following national guidance on this issue.

Relatives told us they thought their family members were safe living at the service and that they received safe care and support from staff. Staff were able to describe to us the signs of potential abuse and understood the relevant reporting procedures. Assessments were completed to assess any risks to people and to the staff who supported them, although we found these were now due for review. Appropriate guidance was in place for staff to follow to help keep people safe. There were other systems in place to protect people from the risk of possible harm. There were risk assessments in place to do with the environment and equipment to provide guidance to staff on how risks could be managed and minimised where possible.

People’s needs had been assessed and care plans included detailed information relating to their individual needs. Care plans were personalised and demonstrated people’s preferences, and choices. People’s care and support packages were amended as necessary to meet their changing needs.

There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s individual support and care needs. There were safe staff recruitment practices in place and appropriate recruitment checks were conducted before staff started work ensuring people were supported by staff that were suitable for their role.

Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely and people were appropriately supported to take their medicines.

There were processes in place to ensure new staff were inducted into the service appropriately and we saw staff received regular training. Staff told us they felt well supported through their supervision, team meetings and annual appraisals.

People were supported to maintain good health and had access to a range of health and social care professionals when required. People’s nutritional needs and preferences were met.

Staff were caring and compassionate in the way they met the needs of the people they supported and could describe peoples’ preferences as to how they liked to be supported. We observed staff speaking to and treating people in a respectful and caring manner. Interactions between people and staff were relaxed and friendly.

People received care and treatment in accordance with their identified needs and wishes. Care plans contained information about people’s history, choices and preferences and people’s ability to communicate. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. Staff told us that people’s relatives were not always able to visit regularly. Relatives told us they were made welcome to the service when they did visit and they kept in touch with their family members in other ways such as with greetings cards or telephone calls.

Inspection of people’s files indicated they had in place an assessment of their needs and any risks and care planning was of a good standard and person centred. Relatives told us they were engaged by the registered manager and staff in planning their family members care. Where possible people were also engaged in contributing to their own care plan this was often achieved by staff through the use of pictorial representations and understanding their non-verbal communications and body language. This process was assisted by the staff’s good knowledge of people’s needs and the trusting relationship staff had developed with people.

People in the house were encouraged and supported to join in with a range of activities in the home and in the community that met their needs.

The provider encouraged people to raise any concerns they had and responded to them in a timely manner. People were aware of the complaints policy.

Walsingham Support Limited had a detailed quality monitoring system in place. There were also other appropriate auditing and monitoring systems in place that helped with assessing and improving quality in the service. The process of storing records needed review to help to ensure they were effective and up to date. The manager and the staff were approachable and fully engaged with providing good quality care for people who used the service.