Archived: Skipton Lodge

Updated 14 June 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.

We reviewed information received about the service, for example the statutory notifications the service had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. We contacted the local authority commissioners to find out their views of the service provided. Commissioners are people who contract care and support services provided to people. They had no concerns about the service provided.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We found the PIR reflected the service provided.

The visits took place on 20 and 23 May 2016 and were announced. We told the provider we would be coming so people who used the service could give agreement for us to visit and talk with them. The inspection was conducted by one inspector.

We visited people on 20 May to find out their views of the service and carried out the office visit on the 23 May. During our visits we spoke with six people who used the service, a visitor, two support workers, a senior support worker, the assistant manager and the registered manager.

We reviewed three people’s care plans to see how their care and support was planned and delivered. We checked whether staff had been recruited safely and were trained to deliver the care and support people required. We looked at other records related to people’s care and how the service operated including the service’s quality assurance audits and records of complaints.

Updated 14 June 2016

We undertook an announced visit to Skipton Lodge on 20 and 23 May 2016. We told the provider before our visit that we would be coming. This was so people could give consent for us to visit them in their flats to talk with them.

Skipton Lodge provides housing with care. People live in their own home and receive personal care and support from staff at pre-arranged times and in emergencies. At the time of our visit 14 people at Skipton Lodge received personal care.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People felt safe using the service and there were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. These included procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care and for managing people’s medicines safely. Staff knew what actions to take to keep people safe and had a good understanding of what constituted abuse. The suitability of care staff was checked during recruitment procedures to make sure, as far as possible, they were safe to work with people who used the service.

The managers understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care.

There were enough staff to deliver the care and support people required. Staff received training and supervision to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively. Staff had the right skills to provide the care and support people required.

People received care from a regular team of staff who stayed long enough to complete the care people required. People told us staff were kind and respectful and knew how people liked to receive their care.

Support plans and risk assessments contained relevant information to help staff provide the personalised care people required. People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people. Staff said they could raise any concerns or issues with the managers, knowing they would be listened to and acted on.

There was an experienced management team who provided good leadership and who care staff found approachable and responsive. There were systems to monitor and review the quality of service people received and to understand the experiences of people who used the service.