Archived: Park Croft

Updated 13 April 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 checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, looked at the overall quality of the service, and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 1 and 5 February 2016 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications the provider had sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return. 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 spoke with two people who lived at Park Croft and two external health professionals. We observed staff interactions with people in the shared areas of the home. We spoke with the registered manager and four staff. We looked at the care plans and associated records of two people in detail and sampled the records of a further three people. We looked at medicines administration records, staff duty rota records, five staff recruitment files, records of supervisions, appraisal and training. We looked at records of complaints, accidents and incidents, policies and procedures and quality assurance records.

Updated 13 April 2016

This unannounced inspection took place on 1 and 5 February 2016.

Park Croft is a registered care home and provides accommodation, support and care, for up to 10 people who live with a learning disability. Housing was provided by another provider and United Response provided the care support. During our inspection there were 7 people living at Park Croft.

A registered manager was in post. 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.

Our last inspection took place in May 2014 and we found the provider had not adequately maintained the environment or ensured this was kept clean. We asked the provider to take action to address this and found at this inspection, they had done so.

People said they felt safe and well cared for by staff who were knowledgeable of their needs. Observations showed staff were kind and caring. They were respectful in their interactions with people and engaged people positively. They showed a good understanding of people’s needs and their right to privacy and dignity. Staff knowledge of safeguarding was good and they were confident concerns would be reported and action taken where needed. Risks associated with people’s needs were well known and managed effectively by staff. Care plans were person centred and reflected people’s likes, dislikes and preferences. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts of food and drink and they had access to a range of health care services to ensure their needs were met.

The CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care services. People were involved in making decisions about their care and treatment. Where people were unable to make these decisions, staff knew the process they should take to ensure that any decisions made were in the person’s best interests. However, records were not always available or reviewed. We have made a recommendation about this. The manager understood when a DoLS application may be needed and these had been submitted.

There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff on duty at all times to meet people’s needs. Recruitment procedures ensured safe recruitment of staff and staff received training and supervisions to support them in the role.

Staff spoke positively of the home and felt the manager was open, transparent and approachable. Feedback was sought from people and action taken to address any complaints. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service and drive improvement.