Archived: Albert Weedall Centre

Albert Weedall Centre are registered to provide personal care. They provide domiciliary care to people who live in their own homes within the community. New Outlook Housing Association Limited are the registered providers of care at Albert Weedall Centre. From their offices at this location they also provide support to a further four locations. At this inspection we looked at the care and support they provide to people living in all of these projects. There were 56 people using this service at the time of our inspection.

At the time of this inspection there was no 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. A newly recruited care manager was present during our inspection who advised us of their intentions to apply to become the registered manager.

People told us that they felt safe using this service. Staff described how they would keep people protected from potential harm and knew how to report allegations of poor practice. The service had effective systems in place to minimise risks to people and risk management plans contained detailed guidance for staff to follow. People told us that they received support from reliable staff. People who received support with their medicines were satisfied but improvement was needed to ensure this was done safely in line with safe medicine guidance and best practice.

Staff told us that they had the appropriate knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the people they were supporting. Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the key principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005). People told us that staff asked their consent before providing care and support. People spoke positively about the food that staff prepared for them. Staff worked with other professionals to ensure that people received the health care that they needed.

Positive and complimentary comments were received from people about the staff that supported them. People told us they made decisions about how they wanted their care provided. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s likes and dislikes. Staff maintained people’s privacy and dignity whilst supporting them to remain as independent as possible.

Personalised care plans were in place to enable staff to provide care the way that people preferred. Staff took the time to develop relationships with people they were supporting. People felt that they could speak with staff about their concerns or complaints and that they would be listened to.

People were happy about the quality of the service that was provided to them by the consistent team of staff employed. The provider consulted with people who used the services to find out their views on the care provided. There were good systems for audit and quality assurance to ensure safe and appropriate support to people.

People's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. People told us that the care was responsive to their needs. One person said, 'The care is marvellous here' and another person said, 'They give me all the care I want.'

People were cared for by staff who were supported to deliver care and treatment safely and to an appropriate standard. Staff received good opportunities for training and were supervised on a regular basis. People said of the staff: 'They are all friendly and kind and understanding', 'They are all very thoughtful; I can't fault them' and 'Nothing is too much trouble for them.'

People who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. Staff and people using the service demonstrated a good level of knowledge of the signs and symptoms of possible abuse and the action to take should abuse be suspected.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive. This included asking people and their relatives for their views about the service and regular audits in relation to relevant areas of performance.