Background to this inspection
Updated
10 December 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
One inspector and an assistant inspector carried out this inspection.
Service and service type
Oleander House provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is a supported living care provider and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Inspection site visit activity started and ended on 13 September 2019. During this time, we visited the office location to meet with people, see the registered manager and staff; and to review care records, policies and procedures.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We asked the local authority and Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. In addition, we spent time with people in the communal areas observing the care and support provided to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We spoke with four members of staff including one project worker, the registered manager, deputy manager and area service manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care records including the records of medicine administration. We looked at one staff member’s file in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. In addition, we looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring checks.
Updated
10 December 2019
About the service
Oleander House provides personal care to people with a learning disability, physical disability, acquired brain injury or mental health difficulties within a supported living environment. At the time of our inspection the service was providing the regulated activity of personal care to seven people.
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
People were protected from harm and abuse as the staff team had been trained to recognise potential signs of abuse and understood what to do.
People had individual assessments of risk associated with their care and support.
People received their medicines safely. Staff members followed the guidelines in place for safely supporting people. The provider had effective systems in place to identify any potential errors with medicines.
The provider followed safe staff recruitment procedures.
Staff members followed effective infection prevention and control measures.
People had information on how to raise concerns and were confident any issues would be addressed correctly.
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
People were supported to access additional healthcare services when required.
Where the service was responsible people were supported to maintain a healthy diet by a staff team which knew their individual likes and dislikes.
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 received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had developed positive relationships. People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age, gender, disability and religion.
People were provided with information in a way they could understand. The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any complaints or compliments from people or those close to them.
The providers quality monitoring procedures were effective in identifying and driving good care and support.
The provider, and management team, had good links with the local communities within which people lived.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was 'Good', (published 30 May 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Oleander House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk