Kirklands

Kirklands is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 6 people. The service provides support to people who have learning disabilities and complex needs. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

Risks were assessed and managed to ensure people could safely participate in activities that they enjoyed. People's relatives told us people were supported safely. 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. People were able to receive visitors without restrictions in line with best practice guidance.

Right Care

People were safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm. There were sufficient numbers of staff and staff supported people in line with their individual preferences and agreed care plans. People were protected from the risk of infection as staff followed safe infection prevention and control practices. Medicines were managed in a safe way.

Right Culture

There was a positive and open culture at the service and systems were in place to provide person-centred care. People's relatives and staff were involved in the running of the service and the provider worked in partnership with others to achieve good outcomes for people. The quality of care was monitored and lessons were learned when things had gone wrong.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good 23 published January 2018

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by the time since our last inspection. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good.

Follow Up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This inspection took place on 1 and 8 November 2017 and was unannounced. Our last inspection took place on 23 November 2015 when the service was overall rated as 'Good' but rated ‘Requires Improvement’ in the Well-led domain. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’ overall and was now rated ‘Good’ in all domains.

At the time of our inspection, there was a registered manager in post.

Staff had undergone safeguarding training and had access to policies and guidance to enable them to safeguard people from abuse.

People had detailed and comprehensive risk assessments in place which were actively reviewed with them to ensure they remained up-to-date and relevant. Staff understood how to respond to emergencies when they arose.

A high level of staffing had been maintained for the number of people who used the service. People were safe as they were cared for by staff whose suitability for their role had been assessed by the provider.

People received their medicines safely from trained staff who were provided with relevant guidance about the administration of people's medicines.

Staff received a comprehensive induction to their role. People were supported by staff who were offered a range of training opportunities relevant to their role to ensure they could support people effectively. Staff were well supported within their role through the supervision process.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were encouraged to eat a balanced diet and healthy eating was promoted. People were encouraged where possible to be independent in the kitchen.

Staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about people's healthcare needs and people received professional support when required.

Staff were observed to be respectful of people's wishes. People's needs in relation to their privacy and dignity had been met.

People were provided with a pre-assessment prior to moving into the service. People had support making their personalised plans.

People were able to access a range of activities both on-site and in the community. People were encouraged to retain or develop their levels of independence.

There was a clearly defined management structure and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. There was an open and transparent culture within the service.

People had been involved in quality assurance processes and their feedback had been used to make improvements to the service. People's complaints were investigated, responded to and any required actions taken.

Various aspects of the service were audited regularly. The results of audits had been used to improve the quality of the service people received.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.