Archived: Arden House

Arden House is registered to accommodate up to three people who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Arden House is a small terraced house in a residential area of Gillingham. At the time of the inspection there was one person living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe living at Arden House and that they trusted the staff. People said, “I feel safe and know that I can talk to the staff or the manager if I am worried about something”.

The service was small, clean and homely. People had been able to personalise their home with pictures, ornaments and photos. People told us they enjoyed spending time in the garden in the nice weather. People were protected from the risks of abuse, harm and discrimination. Staff understood how to recognise signs of abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

Staff continued to be recruited safely. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and there were contingency plans to cover any emergency shortfalls. People made decisions about the level of support they received. They were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive ways possible. Policies and systems in the service supported this.

People chose what they wanted to do each day and where they wanted to spend their time. Their independence was encouraged. People’s mental health, welfare and physical health were monitored. Staff knew people well and told us that they were able to observe very small changes in a person’s demeanour which may indicate needing additional support with their mental health. Staff supported people with their medical appointments and helped them stay as healthy and well as possible.

The registered manager led a small team of staff who had worked at the service for a long time and provided consistency for people. Effective audits and checks were completed. When a shortfall was identified, action was taken to reduce the risk of it happening again.

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection on 27 March 2018 the service was rated Requires Improvement overall. (Published 08 June 2018). We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The provider had failed to take appropriate action to mitigate risks to people’s health and welfare. The provider had failed to manage medicines safely. We required the provider to take action to make improvements. The provider sent us an action plan detailing how they planned to address the breaches of Regulation. During this inspection we found the service had made and sustained the improvements and the breaches in Regulation had been met.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

The service met the characteristics of Good in all areas and Good overall. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

Arden House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Arden House accommodates up to three people who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Arden House is a small terraced house. There were two people living at the service when we inspected.

The service had a registered manager. 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. The registered manager was off sick. The provider had appropriate management support in place to cover. An acting manager had been put in place who was supported by a registered manager from one of the provider’s other services.

Risks had not always been appropriately assessed and mitigated to ensure people were safe.

Medicines had not always been managed safely. Records had not always evidenced that people had received their medicines as prescribed.

Effective systems were not in place to enable the provider to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. Although policies and procedures had been reviewed and updated they did not always relate to the most up to date regulation and guidance.

People were very happy with their care and support. Staff had built up good relationships with people.

Health and social care professionals were complimentary about the service people received.

There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs. The provider operated safe and robust recruitment and selection procedures to make sure staff were suitable and safe to work with people.

Staff knew what they should do to identify and raise safeguarding concerns.

The service was clean, tidy and equipment had been properly checked.

People were encouraged to make their own choices about everyday matters.

People's care plans clearly detailed their care and support needs. People were fully involved with the care planning process including identifying triggers, signs and actions to address their mental health needs.

People were encouraged and supported to engage with activities that met their needs. People accessed their local community independently and with the staff.

People had choices of food at each meal time. People purchased their own food and were given a weekly allowance for this. Some people prepared and cooked their meals independently and some people had support and encouragement to prepare and cook meals. People were supported and encouraged to have a varied and healthy diet.

People were supported and helped to maintain their health and to access health services when they needed them.

Staff were cheerful, kind and patient in their approach and had a good rapport with people. The atmosphere in the service was calm and relaxed. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. The service was small and homely.

People were supported to maintain their relationships with people who mattered to them.

People knew who to talk to if they were unhappy about the service. There had been no complaints about the service.

People told us that the service was well run. Staff were positive about the support they received from the management team. They felt they could raise concerns and they would be listened to.

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