Woodpecker Lodge

Woodpecker Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to seven younger and older people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health needs. At the time of our inspection visits, there were five people living at the home.

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

Incidents involving people who used the service were not always appropriately reviewed and investigated by the registered manager and provider, in protecting people from potential abuse. The provider’s procedures for assessing and managing the risks to people were not sufficiently robust. People’s risk assessment and care plans were not always fully reviewed and updated in light of incidents and episodes of challenging behaviour. Staff did not always follow people’s care plans or record incidents involving people in a professional manner. The provider had failed to inform us of a potential safeguarding incident involving two people living at the home.

Staff expressed mixed views on the management of the service. Some staff lacked confidence bringing concerns about people’s care to the attention of the registered manager. The provider’s quality assurance systems and processes were not as effective as they needed to be, and had not enabled the provider to address the shortfalls in quality we identified during our inspection. The provider and registered manager did not fully seek to engage positively with people and staff and involve them in the service.

Staff were clear how to identify and report abuse. Checks were completed on the premises and equipment in use to keep people, staff and visitors safe. There were enough staff on duty to safely meet people’s individual care needs. Pre-employment checks were carried out on prospective staff before they were allowed to start work at the home. Staff supported people to take and manage their medicines safely. Measures were in place to protect people, visitors and staff from the risk of infections.

People’s care plans were individualised and supported a person-centred approach. People’s individual communication needs were assessed and addressed. People had support to participate in social and recreational activities and to identify and access work opportunities in their local community. People and their relatives knew how to raise concerns and complaints about the service. People’s wishes regarding their end-of-life care were assessed, in order to address these at the relevant time.

People and their relatives spoke about their positive relationships with staff and the registered manager. Staff and management sought to work effectively with community health and social care professionals to ensure people’s care needs were addressed.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (report published 10 April 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a focussed inspection to assure ourselves the service was protecting people from abuse and avoidable harm and meeting people’s needs through effective leadership and management.

We reviewed the key questions of safe, responsive and well led only. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions, therefore we did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has deteriorated to Requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches at this inspection. These relate to the provider’s failure to implemented robust procedures and processes to protect people from abuse and effective quality assurance systems and processes.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us the registered manager and staff were kind, friendly and fun and looked after them well. They said they felt safe and enjoyed living at Woodpecker Lodge and staff respected their privacy and promoted their dignity.

People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. Staffing levels were sufficient and staff appropriately deployed to provide safe care. They had skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and social needs.

People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts in line with their assessed needs. Meal times were relaxed and organised around people's individual daily routines.

Medicines were managed safely and according to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

Care planning involved people, gave them choice and staff guidance in how to provide care that met people's needs. Staff supported people to manage risks and to stay safe. So they had maximum choice and control of their lives, staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. They had opportunities to be involved in voluntary work, hobbies and interests of their choice. They told us they felt involved and listened to about how their care would be provided.

Staff worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure they followed good practice and

people in their care were safe. People were supported to attend healthcare appointments to ensure their health and wellbeing was maintained. Staff understood the importance of supporting people to have a comfortable, pain free and peaceful end of life. Their end of life wishes were recorded so staff were fully aware of these.

The registered provider and the registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service and seek people’s views.

There was a complaints procedure which was made available to people and there representatives. The people we spoke with told us they had no complaints and were supported as they wanted at Woodpecker Lodge.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (Report published 28 April 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remained rated overall good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme or if any issues or concerns are identified.

People told us they felt able to choose how to spend their time and give their views at the regular meetings. People all had a care plan and these had been regularly reviewed. The family of a new person told us they had been fully involved in the assessment and care planning process. They told us, 'X has settled in and is doing so many activities such as trampoline and swimming'.

There was a consistent staff team that were suitably trained and felt well supported. The staff team knew people and their preferences well. The team sought input from external professionals when needed.

The senior management of the home had remained stable. The manager and provider formally monitored the quality of the service. There were effective leadership arrangements in place to manage the care service and monitor health and safety risks.

We found that people were supported in promoting their independence and community involvement. Their diversity, values and human rights were respected. People told us they were very happy with the support they received which helped them be as independent as possible. They felt safe and were able to raise any concerns they had.

We looked at staff training records and spoke to two staff to get their views. They felt the staffing levels allowed them to spend time with people and they were well supported and trained.