The Laurels

Updated 22 May 2018

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 legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 19 April 2018. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location is a small family home and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to

spend time with us. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

During this inspection, we asked the registered manager and staff to provide us with information that showed us how they managed the service. We also asked for evidence to show what they were proud of, and what improvements they had identified and when they planned to address them.

We reviewed the information we held about the service which was limited. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. The provider had not sent us any statutory notifications because no incidents had occurred to require them to do so. The home had not received any recent visits from the local authority and other agencies that we were aware of.

We spent time observing the care people received from staff whilst they were at the home, although both people went out for some time during our visit.

We only spoke with one person living at The Laurels as the other person was out for the day away from the home. We spoke with the registered manager and one family member who was the primary supporting staff member. We looked at two people’s care records and other documentation related to people’s care and quality assurance processes.

Updated 22 May 2018

The inspection visit took place on 19 April 2018 which was an announced comprehensive inspection. The visit was announced so we could ensure the registered manager, staff and people who used the service were available to speak with us.

The Laurels is the registered provider’s family home which provides accommodation, personal care and support for up to three people, with physical and / or learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection two people lived at the home. Both people had lived at the home for a considerable time and both they, and people that supported them, treated everyone as a family unit.

People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/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.

There was a registered manager in post who was also the registered provider. 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 provider was also the registered manager and for this inspection, we spoke with a family member who took the primary role in managing the service.

Because the registered provider lived at the service, it was a family home environment where, staff and people living at the home saw and treated everyone as equals so it was not necessary to refer to each other with a job title. ‘Family members’ was the name given to staff by people who used the service. In the report, we refer to them as staff.

At our last comprehensive inspection in April 2016, we rated the service as Good overall. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The registered manager and staff assessed risks to people’s health and welfare and care plans minimised the identified risks. However, some care plans and risk assessments required updating to demonstrate the care and support people needed and what help they needed to continue to promote their independence. We were confident staff knew people well and supported them how they wanted.

Staff knew how to keep people safe from the risk of abuse and the people they supported felt well cared for and got on with everyone in the home. There continued to be enough staff to meet people’s health needs and there continued to be flexibility in staffing levels, to make sure people received a safe, effective and responsive service.

People’s medicines were managed, stored and administered safely by each person because people continued to be supported to remain as independent as possible. People were encouraged to continue to self-medicate if safe for them to do so.

People continued to be cared for and supported by kind and compassionate staff, who knew their individual preferences whilst continuing to promote life skills and ambitions. Staff understood people’s needs and abilities and they had the skills and experiences to do this effectively.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did support them in the least restrictive way possible. The systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff ensured people received support from other health professionals to maintain and improve their physical and mental health and people were involved in how their care was delivered. The family worked well as a team to provide people with quality care and a good life experience.

The quality monitoring system required improvement so the provider was in a clearer position to be able to demonstrate more clearly their systems continued to support good outcomes for people they supported.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.