Archived: Walsingham Support - 97 Luncies Road

The care home accommodates five people in an ordinary family style residential property. The care service was developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good overall, with Responsive being judged as requires improvement. This was because there were not always enough staff hours allocated to enable people to participate in their social activities. Evidence was made available by the provider during this inspection that this had been actioned. The service remains Good at this inspection.

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.

Procedures were in place to protect people from harm and staff knew how to use them to keep people safe. There were processes in place to manage risks in relation to the running of the service, prevention of infection and the recruitment of staff. Medicines were safely managed in line with current guidance to ensure people received their prescribed medicines to meet their needs.

Staff felt well inducted and trained and used their training effectively. People were helped to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service underpinned this practice.

People’s needs were assessed and they had support to access healthcare professionals and services. People were encouraged to eat well and choose healthier food options to maintain their health and well-being.

Staff were caring and respected people’s privacy, dignity and independence. People were supported in a person centred way. Care plans were detailed and people were included in developing these. People were supported to express any concerns and information about making complaints was available in easy read format.

People living and working in the service had the opportunity to say how they felt about the home and the service it provided. Their views were listened to and actions were taken in response.

There was stable leadership in the service. People knew the registered manager and staff us told they found them to be approachable and available in the home. Systems were in place to check on the quality and safety of the service provided and make improvements where these were needed.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

We found that staff supported people with their nutrition and hydration needs.

The service was clean and free from unpleasant odours. There were robust procedures in place for protecting people from the risks of health associated infections.

We found that appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work at Walsingham - 97 Luncies Road. People were supported by suitably skilled, experienced and knowledgeable staff because there were robust practices in place for recruiting new staff and supporting them in their roles within the service.

Due to this we observed how staff interacted with people using the service. We spoke with two people who told us that the care was good and they felt staff gave them support. One person said, 'I love it here.' We spoke with two relatives who told us that they were, 'Very satisfied' and said, 'Staff certainly know [person] inside out.'

Our findings showed that improvements had been made since our last inspection in October 2011 to ensure that people's risk assessments were reviewed within timescales. We found that the home had received some redecoration and refurbishment since our last visit and plans were made for further decoration.

We looked at two care plan files and found that people's individual needs had been considered and plans detailed the support required. We saw that where possible people were involved in making decisions regarding their care.

We spoke with five staff and found there were systems in place giving support and opportunities for personal development.

We saw that the provider had systems in place to help keep people safe and to assess and monitor the quality of service provision.