Archived: Martins Care - the Angels

Updated 24 August 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Martins Care- the Angels 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the Local Authority, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with both people who used the service about their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager as there were no staff employed at this service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with two relatives about their experiences of the care provided and one professional.

Updated 24 August 2019

About the service

Martins Care - the Angels is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation to two people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to four people.

Martins Care- the Angels accommodates two people in one adapted building. 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

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

People received safe care and support by the registered manager who understood how to recognise signs of abuse or risk and understood what to do to safely support people. People were supported to take positive risks, to ensure they had as much choice and control of their lives as possible. We observed medicines being given safely to people.

Care and support was planned with people to ensure positive outcomes and experiences. People were supported to eat healthily and access their local community healthcare services when required. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the registered manager supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice, as records were out of date. The home environment was well maintained and adapted to support people to live a fulfilled life.

Everyone we spoke with was consistent in their views that the registered manager was kind, caring and supportive. People were relaxed, comfortable and happy in the company of the registered manager and engaged in a positive way. People were involved in making decisions about their care and support needs. People's privacy and dignity was respected, and their independence promoted.

The registered manager was committed to delivering care in a person-centred way based on people's preferences and wishes. The registered manager was knowledgeable about the people they supported and had built trusting and meaningful relationships with them. People were supported to maintain relationships with those that were important to them. Activities were tailor-made to people's preferences and interests. People were encouraged to go out and form relationships with members of the community. People knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy.

The registered manager continually checked that people and their relatives were satisfied and confident in the standard of care provided within the service. Whilst the registered manager continuously monitored, assessed and improved the service provided, there were no formal systems and records in place. The service was in transition to a shared lives provision. A shared lives scheme provides people with long-term placements within shared lives carers own homes.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published January 2017). We rated Safe, Effective, Caring and Responsive as good and the key question Well-led requiring improvement.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Martins Care- the Angels on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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