Archived: Jack Ball House

We received a report from the provider in December 2013. The report told us what the provider had done or was intending to do to become compliant and the dates the improvements would be completed. We contacted the provider in February 2014 for confirmation that the planned improvements had been put into place.

The information we received from the provider showed that appropriate action had been taken to ensure there were effective procedures in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and to make sure records were accurate and up to date.

We saw people's care needs had been assessed and were reviewed to make sure people received the care they required. People told us they were fully involved in their care and support. The care plans we looked at provided staff with sufficient information about the care and support people required to meet their needs. People told us their preferences and choices had been discussed with them and staff provided support in the way they liked. We were told, 'No matter what you ask for, they do it for you.'

People said there was a small team of staff that provided their care. People told us their care was provided around the same time each day. We looked at how calls to people were allocated to care workers. We found there were sufficient care workers to provide the care and support people required. People we spoke with said their care workers were friendly and caring. One person told us, 'They are all very nice, they are like family.'

We found the premises safe for staff to work in and for people who used the service to visit.

We found the procedures for assessing and monitoring the service were not sufficiently robust to make sure people received the care they required. Records we looked at showed risks associated with people's care had been identified but were not always being managed appropriately by the service.

Everyone we spoke with told us they were satisfied with the care they received. One person said, 'They are very, very good. It's like a hotel.'

We looked at the care records of three people. We spoke with three people receiving care and a relative of people receiving care. We were satisfied people were receiving the care they had consented to. The people we spoke with were all very pleased with the care they or their relatives had received.

We spoke with five staff. They told us they enjoyed working for the service and felt they worked well as a team. They told us they help each other to make sure people using the service had their needs met.

We looked at how the service ensured the equipment it used to support people was safe. We were satisfied there were good systems in place to check equipment was safe and well maintained.

We looked at medication management. We were satisfied staff were trained and competent to do this, and were following the service's policy on assisting and prompting people to take medicines.

We looked at the complaints policy and procedure. This gave people clear information about how to make a complaint. We were satisfied the service had managed formal complaints appropriately.