Archived: Quarry Hill Resource Centre

Updated 7 March 2018

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 registered provider was 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.

The inspection took place on 31 January 2017 and was carried out by an adult social care inspector. The inspection was announced shortly before our visit because as this is a small respite service we needed to make sure someone would be available to assist with the inspection.

To help us to plan and identify areas to focus on in the inspection we considered all the information we held about the service, such as notifications from the home. We also requested the views of professionals who may have visited the home or received information they could share with us, this included Healthwatch Rotherham. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We met all the people staying at the home at the time of our inspection. We asked them for their opinion of the service provided and observed how staff interacted with them throughout our visit. Following our visit we also spoke with the relatives of two people who were not staying at the home at the time, but had stayed there regularly in the past.

We spoke with the deputy manager, a domestic and three care staff to gain their views on working at the home. We also spoke briefly with the registered manager at the end of the inspection.

We looked at documentation relating to people who used the service and staff, as well as the management of the home. This included reviewing three people’s care and medication records, three staff files, training and support records, quality audits, policies and procedures.

Updated 7 March 2018

Quarry Hill is a care home providing residential care to people with learning disabilities. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Quarry Hill provides respite [short stay] care on both a planned and short notice basis. The home is located in a residential area on the outskirts of Wath-Upon-Dearne close to shops and has good transport links. Overall the service supports approximately 49 people with respite care over the year. At the time of the inspection four people were staying at the home.

At the last inspection in August 2015 the service was rated ‘Good’ overall. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for ‘Quarry Hill Resource Centre’ on our website at www.cqc.org.uk’. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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. As the manager was also registered for two other council care homes they were supported by a deputy manager, who worked across two respite service organising the day to day running of each home.

People we spoke with said they enjoyed staying at the home and were very happy with the care and support they received. The relatives we spoke with also spoke very positively about the staff and the home in general.

Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff were knowledgeable about keeping people safe and were able to explain the procedures to follow should any concerns be raised. Risk assessments had been completed to help keep people safe and encourage their independence.

Staff knew the people who stayed at the home very well and provided individualised care and support. People were enabled to continue with their usual routines, such as attending day centres and jobs, as well as taking part in their hobbies and interests.

There was a robust medication system in place which ensured people received their medications in a safe and timely way from staff who had been trained to carry out this role.

The recruitment system helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. A structured induction and training programme helped to ensure staff maintained and developed their knowledge and skills. However, information regarding the training completed by contracted staff not employed directly by the service had not been checked. The management team checked this following the inspection and have told us action was being taken to address any shortfalls.

People were supported 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 support this practice.

People received a well-balanced diet that they were involved in choosing, shopping for and helping to prepare.

People’s assessed needs were checked and updated prior to each stay at the home. Information gathered was used to update their support plans and inform staff. Care files provided detailed information about the areas people needed support in and reflected their abilities and preferences, which enabled staff to provide individualised care.

The registered provider had a complaints policy to guide people on how to raise concerns and there was a structured system in place for recording the detail and outcome of any concerns raised. This was also available in an easy to read version that used pictures to help people understand the process.

There was a system in place to enable people to share their opinion of the service provided. We also saw checks had been made to make sure policies had been followed and the premises were safe and well maintained. However, these would benefit from additional detail, such as monitoring of cleaning and clear action plans to say what needed improving and the timescales for work to be completed.

We found policies and procedures had not been reviewed regularly to ensure they were up to date. This had been highlighted by an external auditor prior to our visit and we were told a review was being undertaken.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.