Archived: Hillcrest House

Updated 27 August 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.

This inspection took place on 23 June 2016. The inspection was unannounced and was undertaken by one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications that the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During this inspection we visited people in their shared home. We spoke to people as much as they felt able and observed their interactions with staff and the registered manager. We spoke to one relative during the inspection and four relatives on the telephone. We looked at care records relating to three people. In total we spoke with four members of staff, including the registered manager. We looked at three records in relation to staff recruitment and training, as well as records related to the quality monitoring of the service.

Updated 27 August 2016

Hillcrest House provides personal care support for up to five adults that have learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorder and may have challenging behaviour and/or mental health needs. This unannounced inspection took place on 23 June 2016 and at the time of our inspection there were five people using the service.

There were two registered managers in post, one of whom undertook the day to day management of the home and one 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.

People felt safe in the home and received safe care and support. Relatives said that they had no concerns about people’s safety and we observed that people were comfortable in the home. Staff had an in depth understanding of their role in safeguarding people and they knew how to report concerns. Staffing levels ensured that people received the support they required at the times they needed it.

The recruitment practices were thorough and protected people from being cared for by staff that were unsuitable to work at the service. Staff received the training and support required to enable them to understand and meet the care needs of each person.

People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed. Records showed that medicines were obtained, stored, administered and disposed of safely. People were supported to maintain good health as staff had the knowledge and skills to support them and there was prompt access to healthcare services when needed.

People were fully involved in decisions about their care and support needs and this had a positive impact on their ability to be as independent as possible. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff provided people with information in the most appropriate format to enable them to make informed decisions and encouraged people to make their own choices.

Staff were passionate about the work they did and had very good relationships with the people who lived in the home. People interacted in a relaxed way with staff, and relatives consistently spoke about the positive impact living in the home had made to people’s lives.

Comprehensive care plans and risk assessments were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and had been produced in conjunction with people using the service. They provided information to staff about action to be taken to minimise any risks whilst allowing people to be as independent as possible.

People participated in a large and varied range of activities within the home, the local community and further afield. The atmosphere in the home was vibrant and people were enthusiastic about holidays and activities planned for the future.

Staff were aware of the importance of managing complaints promptly in line with the provider’s policy. People living in the home, their relatives and staff were confident that any issues would be addressed and that if they had concerns they would be listened to.

The service was well led and people’s relatives and staff had full confidence in the leadership of the registered manager. The provider ensured that the service was well supported and effective systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of service provided.