Archived: Wensley Street

Updated 12 August 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

We undertook an unannounced inspection of Wensley Street on 26 and 27 February 2015. The inspection was undertaken by an adult social care inspector.

During our inspection we visited three of the six houses at Wensley Street. We used different methods to help us understand the experiences of people living at Wensley Street. We spoke with three people and also undertook informal observations in order to see how staff interacted with people and see how care was provided. This was because some people living at Wensley Street had communication difficulties and were unable to verbally tell us about their experience of the service.

We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, a team leader, two support workers and the provider’s quality assurance officer who was visiting during the second day of our inspection.

We reviewed a range of records during our inspection visit, including six support plans, daily records of people’s care and treatment and policies and procedures relating to the running of the service. These included quality assurance documents, medication records and staff recruitment and training records.

Updated 12 August 2015

An unannounced inspection visit of Wensley Street took place on 26 and 27 February 2015.

Wensley Street is a care home which provides personal care and accommodation for thirty people with learning disabilities. The home consists of six houses; each house has five single bedrooms. There is a lounge, dining area, shared bathrooms and a kitchen within each house. There were 24 people living at Wensley Street at the time of our inspection.

The service was last inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in December 2013 and was found to be meeting regulations relating to care and welfare of people who use services, safeguarding, safety, availability and suitability of equipment, supporting workers and assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision.

A registered manager was in place and was responsible for the management of Wensley Street and a sister home. 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.

We observed people being supported to take their medicines in two of the three houses visited during our inspection and found that medicines were safely stored, administered and recorded.

People felt safe living at Wensley Street. Our conversations with staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager demonstrated that they were aware of local safeguarding procedures and had the necessary knowledge to ensure that vulnerable adults were safeguarded from abuse. An effective system was in place to record, analyse and identify ways of reducing risk.

We found that there were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and keep people safe. The staff team was well established, with many members of staff working at the home for ten or more years. Our review of staffing records provided evidence that an effective process was in place to ensure that employees were of good character and held the necessary checks and qualifications to work at Wensley Street. Staff were provided with a range of training to help them carry out their roles. They also received regular supervision and an annual appraisal.

People were appropriately supported to make decisions in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA). Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the MCA and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and how they applied in practice.

People’s nutritional needs were met and people’s physical health needs were monitored. Referrals were made when needed to health professionals. People’s support plans included Health Action Plans and hospital passports. These are good practice documents. Health Action Plans ensure that people with learning disabilities access a range of services to meet their health needs. Hospital Passports ensure that key information about people and their needs is documented should they need to attend hospital.

We identified some gaps and inconsistencies in the support plans of two people. The registered manager had already sought clarification about one of these shortfalls and the provider’s quality assurance officer agreed to address the other shortfalls by prioritising an audit of the persons support plan.

People’s support plans contained person centred information about people’s individual

health and support needs and preferences. Wensley Street supported people to access a range of community resources and provided activities to meet people’s differing needs and preferences.

Observations throughout our inspection demonstrated that people were supported by staff who were caring and knew people’s individual needs and preferences. We saw that staff members offered and involved people in a range of day to day decisions, promoted people’s independence and adapted the way they communicated to meet the needs of the person they were supporting. People were treated with dignity and respect throughout our inspection and staff were aware of people’s differing cultural and religious needs.

People and staff were positive about the registered manager and the way in which she led the service. One person described the registered manager as, “A nice boss,” and told us that the registered manager visited their house and the other houses at Wensley Street in order to ask them if they were happy with the service and the staff that supported them. A system was in place to continually audit the quality of care provided at Wensley Street. We saw that this incorporated a range of weekly and monthly audits relating to differing areas of the service.