Archived: Venner Avenue

The home was a single floor building with the bedroom accommodation located around the main living areas. There was one main bathroom available to people. There were two communal areas in the home, which were a kitchen/dining room and a lounge.

The home 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.

At our last inspection, we rated the service good. At inspection, we continued to rate the service as good

The principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were not being followed as required; best interest decisions were not in place for all people that required them. However, the provider was in the process of implementing such a process.

There were sufficient staff to meet the needs of people and to support them to access the community.

Families told us they felt their relatives were safe at the home. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to safeguard people from the risk of harm. Staff knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse.

There were robust arrangements in place for the safe recording, storage and administration of medications, as well as risk assessments and practices to safeguard people’s health and wellbeing.

Risks to people and the environment were assessed and reviewed regularly.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities for end of life care and knew how to access relevant support if needed.

The provider had an effective recruitment process in place. Staff had undertaken all other appropriate training to be able to support people according to their needs, choices and preferences. Care plans and risk assessments were regularly updated and contained personalised information to support people's needs.

Staff had developed respectful, caring relationships with the people they supported. People received care and support which reflected their preferences, capabilities and needs. People were involved in making decisions about their care and had care plans that were compiled using pictures and photographs so that they were accessible to them.

Staff worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to promote people's health and wellbeing.

The registered manager promoted a person centred, caring philosophy, which was shared by all staff.

The home had a warm and friendly feel and people appeared happy and relaxed with staff.

Provide a brief overview of the service (e.g. Type of care provided, size, facilities, number of people using it, whether there is or should be a registered manager etc).

N.B. If there is or should be a registered manager include this statement to describe what a registered manager is:

‘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.’

Give a summary of your findings for the service, highlighting what the service does well and drawing attention to areas where improvements could be made. Where a breach of regulation has been identified, summarise, in plain English, how the provider was not meeting the requirements of the law and state ‘You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.’ Please note that the summary section will be used to populate the CQC website. Providers will be asked to share this section with the people who use their service and the staff that work at there.

We met all four people who were living at the home. People appeared happy and looked well cared for. We asked two people if they were happy and they responded yes. People were relaxed and those who were able moved around the home independently. We contacted two relatives of people and spoke with one. They were concerned about the number of permanent staff who had left the home and the impact this was having on their relative.

We spoke with both staff on duty and a third staff member who came to support the staff during the inspection. The permanent staff were aware of how people should be supported, their individual likes and dislikes and the help they required. However, the other staff on duty was from an agency and had not previously worked at the home. They were unaware of the individual needs or wishes of people. We spent time observing care in communal areas. We observed staff were courteous and respectful of people's views and choices were offered. The care we observed corresponded with care plans and risk assessments viewed.

The home was reliant on agency staff as permanent staff who had left had not been replaced. This was restricting people's opportunities for individual social outings and meant people were being cared for by staff who did not always know them. A relative said they were 'worried as staff had left and not been replaced'.

Staff were aware of what constituted abuse and their responsibilities to report this. People were not cared for in a clean and hygienic environment and the provider did not have quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided.