3 September 2018
During a routine inspection
At the time of our inspection the service had a new manager who had been in post since 13 July 2018, they were in the process of registering with CQC to become the 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. Throughout this report we refer to this person as the manager.
Records were not always accurate and did not consistently provide staff with enough guidance to meet people’s needs. Whilst there was a range of systems in place to assess monitor the quality of service, they were not always effective in identifying and driving improvement.
We have made a recommendation about the provider’s governance framework and reviewing and evaluating all documentation.
People were supported to maintain good health and were involved in decisions about their health. They were provided with personalised care and support. Staff had the knowledge and skills to carry out their roles effectively and their training was updated annually. People were very positive about the care they received.
Risks to people and staff safety were identified. Staff had completed safeguarding adults training and knew how to keep people safe and report concerns. Staff had a good understanding of systems in place to manage medicines. People's medicines were safely managed. There were thorough recruitment checks completed to help ensure suitable staff were employed to care and support people. There was sufficient staff available to ensure people's wellbeing, safety and security was protected.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and report on what we find. People were supported by staff who had the skills and training to meet their needs. The manager understood their responsibilities in relation to the MCA and DoLS however, staff did not always understand their responsibilities in relation to the MCA.
People's independence was promoted and support workers encouraged them to do as much for themselves as possible. Staff treated people with dignity and respect and were sensitive to their needs regarding equality, diversity and their human rights. People were encouraged and enabled to be involved as much as they were able in making decisions about how to meet their needs.
There were regular opportunities for people and staff to feedback any concerns at peoples one to one meetings; house meetings, staff meetings and supervision meetings. Records showed these were open discussions. Feedback was consistently positive, with many complimentary comments about the support provided, the staff and the overall service.
People were supported to take part in activities that they enjoyed. Arrangements were in place to obtain the views of people and their relatives and a complaints procedure was available for people and their relatives to use if they had the need.
Staff told us they enjoyed working for the organisation and spoke positively about the culture and management of the service.