Background to this inspection
Updated
29 February 2016
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.
The provider was given 72 hours’ notice of our inspection because the location was a small care home for adults with learning disabilities or mental health needs who were often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. Due to the small size of the service the inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector.
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including the last inspection report and notifications the provider had made to us. We also spoke with the local authority contract monitoring team who gave us positive feedback regarding the service.
During the inspection we spoke with two of the people who used the service. We also spoke with the registered manager, the project manager, a senior support worker and two support workers. We looked at the care and medication records for the four people who were using the service. We also looked at a range of records relating to how the service was managed; these included three staff personnel files, staff training records and policies and procedures.
Updated
29 February 2016
This was an announced inspection which took place on 11 January 2016. We had previously carried out an inspection in March 2014 when we found the service to be meeting all the regulations we reviewed.
Outreach Community and Residential Services – 162 Bury Old Road is a care home registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to seven people who have a learning disability or mental health needs. On the day of our inspection four people were living in the service.
The provider had a registered manager in place as required by the conditions of their registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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 registered manager was responsible for all the services delivered by the provider. They were therefore supported by a project manager who was responsible for the day to day running of 162 Bury Old Road.
People who used the service told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. They told us staff were always available to support them in the activities they wished to do. People were enabled to make their own decisions and told us staff always promoted their independence. During the inspection we observed staff were caring and respectful in their interactions with people who used the service.
Recruitment processes were robust and should help protect people who used the service from the risk of staff who were unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults. People who used the service were involved in the recruitment and training of staff.
Staff had received training in the safe administration of medicines. The competence of staff to administer medicines safely was regularly assessed.
Systems were in place to help ensure the safety and cleanliness of the environment. People who used the service were encouraged to participate in cleaning the home and in regular safety checks.
Staff told us they received the training and support they needed to carry out their role effectively. There were systems in place to track the training staff had completed and to plan the training required. All the staff we spoke with told us they enjoyed working in the service and felt valued by both the registered manager and project manager. Staff felt able to raise any issues of concern in supervision, staff meetings and the staff forum organised by the provider.
Staff we spoke with had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We saw that appropriate arrangements were in place to assess whether people were able to consent to their care and support.
People who used the service had health support plans in place. Records we reviewed showed that, where necessary, people were provided with support from staff to attend health appointments. People were also supported by staff to maintain a healthy diet as far as possible.
Care records we looked at showed people who used the service had been involved in developing and reviewing their care and support plans. Support plans included good information about the way people wanted their support to be provided and their goals for the future. We saw that staff used creative and innovative methods to support people to achieve their dreams as far as it was possible to do so.
All the people we spoke with told us they felt able to raise any concerns with the project manager or registered manager and were confident they would be listened to. We noted systems were in place to encourage people who used the service to provide feedback on the care and support they received.
The service was based on a set of values which were clearly understood and implemented by staff. Quality assurance systems in place were used to drive forward improvements in the service.