Archived: Lyndridge Care & Support

Updated 27 August 2014

We visited Lyndridge Care and Support on 1 and 2 May 2014. 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 regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process under Wave 1. The inspection team consisted of a lead inspector and a second inspector. Following the inspection visit an Expert by Experience carried out telephone interviews with 16 people who used the service or their relatives. The Expert had experience of caring for a person with a learning disability and had trained as an advocate in mental health and mental capacity. They also had experience of dementia, both personally, and as an advocate.

We spent time in the office looking at records, which included people’s care records, and records relating to the management of the agency. We visited two homes of people who received care and support from the agency.

Lyndridge Care and Support were last inspected 11 November 2013. There were no concerns found at that inspection.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. We examined previous inspection reports, information given to us by the agency, and notifications received by the Care Quality Commission. During the inspection visit we reviewed three care plans, four staff files, a selection of the agency’s policies and procedures and staff training records.

In total we spoke with 18 people who were using the service and five relatives. We also spoke with a health care professional who was involved in the care of someone who used the service, 15 members of staff and the owner.

Updated 27 August 2014

Lyndridge Care and Support is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 150 people were receiving personal care and support from the agency.  The majority were older people but there were also people with mental health needs and learning disabilities. The amount of support people received with their personal care varied from a few hours a day to 24 hour support. 

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law like the provider.

People using the service told us they were happy with the support they received. They told us support staff were: “Very friendly” and helped them remain independent. People said they would complain if they needed to and were confident any complaints would be dealt with. One person told us: “I do know about the complaints procedure, I’m good at that. But I haven’t had to use it.”

Care plans were detailed and reviewed regularly.  Care plans for people with a learning disability used pictures to supplement the text to help people understand their plans.  People told us they were involved in developing their plans and were aware staff used them regularly. One person told us: “They have a book with everything that happens to me written in it. They write every day."

We looked at risk assessments contained within care plans. We found those for older people who used the service did not give staff clear guidance on how to minimise risks for individuals. The operations manager told us they were planning to develop the way in which risk assessments were written in order to make them more personalised and relevant.

Staff told us they enjoyed their jobs and were well supported by their line managers. We saw they received training which was appropriate to their roles.

There was a well-defined management structure in place and staff told us they were clear about the lines of accountability. People who used the service and staff told us they found management effective and efficient. One person said: “The manager definitely runs the service well. It is very efficient and I get all the care that I need.”

Quality monitoring was carried out regularly in order to assess the standard of care provided and implement any required changes. This helped ensure staff from the agency were able to respond quickly to people’s changing needs.

We found the staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.