Archived: Saxon House

Updated 5 August 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 11 June 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service to people in their own homes. We wanted to ensure that relevant staff would be available to talk to us. The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Before we visited the service we reviewed the information we hold about it. This included information about complaints and specific events such as incidents taking place within the service. The provider is required by law to notify us of these, including events affecting people’s safety or accidents occurring to people while they are receiving care. We also checked with the local authority’s quality assurance team to ask for their views.

We spoke to ten people who used the service and three relatives. We also spoke with four members of staff and the area manager. We observed the way that people were supported.

We reviewed care records for four people, including medicine administration records. We looked at records associated with the running of the service including medicines audits and quality assurance checks. We reviewed the information within minutes for tenants’ meetings and staff meetings.

Updated 5 August 2015

This inspection took place on 11 June 2015 and was announced.

Saxon House provides support to older people. They have their own tenancies and are provided with care in their own flats within Saxon House. As such, the safety of equipment and facilities within people’s flats is not within the remit of this inspection but is the responsibility of the landlord or tenant.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 the last inspection of this service in September 2014, we found that medicines were not managed safely. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made. Medicines were stored safely. The staff team completed regular checks so that omissions, from either records or of medicines given, were identified and addressed promptly.

Staff knew the importance of recognising, responding to and reporting any indications which might indicate a person had been abused or harmed in some way. However, emerging risks had not consistently been taken into account to ensure people’s safety in the service and gaps in the process of assessing people’s needs compromised this further.

Staff were competent to meet people’s needs and had developed a good understanding of people’s preferences and wishes. They ensured they sought advice promptly on behalf of people who became unwell. Staff understood the importance of supporting people to have enough to eat and drink where this was a part of their care package or when their health changed. The provider had identified that some further training was needed. This was to ensure that staff fully understood how to support people who may find it difficult to make informed decisions about their care.

Staff supported people in a manner that ensured their privacy and dignity was respected. People were consulted about their care, with support from their family if they wanted or needed this. Staff responded with warmth and kindness to people’s requests for assistance. There was a cheerful and sociable atmosphere within the service.

People could raise complaints or concerns about the quality of care they received and have these addressed. People were also enabled to express their views about the way staff supported them and were satisfied with the care they received.

Systems for monitoring the service did not properly identify where improvements or further investigations were necessary in the interests of people’s safety and welfare. Systems also did not ensure that information about incidents was passed promptly to the Care Quality Commission when this was required.

We found two breaches of regulations. The registered persons did not ensure that systems for monitoring service quality and safety were implemented robustly. They had also failed to notify the Commission of a specific event happening within the service. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.