31 March 2015
During a routine inspection
We inspected this service on 31 March 2015. The inspection was unannounced. Barleycombe is a care home which provides accommodation and support for up to 13 adults with a learning disability.
At our previous inspection on 08 August 2013 the provider was meeting all of the regulations that we assessed.
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.
Systems were in place to manage risks to people using the service, including safeguarding matters, behaviours that were challenging to others and medication, which protected them from harm. Risk assessments were detailed and gave staff clear direction as to what action to take to minimise risk in a consistent and positive way and which protected people’s dignity and rights. This showed that the provider had a positive attitude towards managing risk and keeping people safe.
The registered manager had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). These safeguards protect the rights of adults who use the service by ensuring that if there are restrictions on their freedom and liberty these are assessed by professionals who consider whether the restriction is appropriate and needed. The registered manager had made appropriate DoLS applications to the local authority to ensure that restrictions on people’s ability to leave the service were lawful.
There was consistently enough staff on duty to keep people safe. A thorough recruitment and selection process was in place, which ensured staff recruited had the right skills and experience, and were suitable to work with people who used the service.
People experienced a good quality of life because staff received training that gave them the skills and knowledge to meet their assessed needs. Staff talked passionately about the people they supported and knew their care needs well.
People were involved in determining the kind of support they needed. Staff offered people choices, for example, how they spent their day and what they wanted to eat, and these choices were respected. People were observed carrying on with their usual routines, going to work, shopping and accessing places of interest in the community.
People were provided with sufficient to eat and drink to stay healthy and maintain a balanced diet. Each person had a health action plan which detailed how they were being supported to manage and maintain their health. People had access to health care professionals, when they needed them. Different methods, including easy read health action plans had been used to support people with communication difficulties, so that they were able to understand information about their care.
There was a strong emphasis on promoting good practice in the service. The registered manager worked alongside staff so that they were able to assess and monitor the culture of the service. The registered manager was very knowledgeable and inspired confidence in the staff team, and led by example.
The provider had a range of systems in place to assess the quality of the service. These included questionnaires completed by people who used the service, their families, and other health care professionals. Quality monitoring visits were being carried out by an area manager employed by the provide including those for incidents, accidents, safeguarding concerns and complaints. These visits identified information was used to drive improvement of the service.