Archived: The Knowle Limited

The Knowle Limited is registered to provide accommodation for up to 13 people, some of whom may have mental health problems or learning disabilities. The main building was formerly two Victorian villas that have been renovated to form one large house. All bedrooms are single. Communal areas and bathing facilities are provided. At the time of the inspection there were nine people living at the service. One person was in hospital at the time of our inspection.

There was a registered manager for the service in post at the time of the 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At the last inspection we found a breach of Regulation 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment. The provider sent us an action plan telling us about the action they would complete to reach compliance. At this inspection we checked to see if sufficient improvements had been made. We saw some improvements had been made at the service to safeguard people from harm. However, we found one safeguarding concern had not been reported appropriately to the local safeguarding authority. This showed that further improvement was required.

We found a continued breach of Regulation 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment.

We found a few people’s risk assessment and care plans would benefit from containing more information about their early warning signs of a potential relapse and becoming unwell.

We saw the process in place to ensure incidents were reported appropriately to the Care Quality Commission required improvement.

People and staff we spoke with did not express any concerns regarding the staffing levels at the service.

We saw that appropriate pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were of good character and suitable to work with vulnerable adults.

The service had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines so people were protected from the risks associated with medicines.

People we spoke with were satisfied with the quality of care they had received and made positive comments about the staff.

People we spoke with told us they had been fully involved in their care planning and actively involved in any reviews.

In people’s records we found evidence of involvement from other professionals such as doctors and community psychiatric nurses (CPN).

People’s individualised diets were being met. We received positive comments from people we spoke with about the quality of the food.

Staff were supported to deliver care safely and to an appropriate standard.

Staff had undertaken training to give them the skills and knowledge to carry out their roles effectively.

People we spoke with said they were treated with dignity and respect.

People we spoke with were confident that if they raised any concerns or complaints, these would be taken seriously and appropriate action taken.

The service actively sought the views of people living at the service to continuously improve the service.

There were processes in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. However, we saw some processes required improvement.

We saw the system in place to ensure policies were reviewed so they reflected key legislation and guidance required improvement.

We found one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the registered provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Food and drink met people's individual dietary needs. One person said, 'It's alright the food here.'

People were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines.

People were cared for by staff who were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

People who used the service told us they were happy with the care and support they received at The Knowle. One person said, 'quite a nice place to live.'

The provider had suitable arrangements in place to ensure that people who used the service were safeguarded against the risk of abuse.

The provider had an effective recruitment and selection process in place. We saw evidence that staff that were employed by the home had undertaken relevant checks before they were allowed to commence working.

We found that a complaints policy and procedure was in place. All of the people spoken with said they had no complaints or concerns about the home.