We spoke with four people who lived at the home, the home manager, deputy manager, and support staff. We also spoke with three relatives on the phone. All four people told us that they were happy with the support they received and it helped them to be independent. One said 'I'm very happy here. I never want to move and I mean that.' Another said of the support workers 'I like the staff.'
All of the relatives told us that they were satisfied with the support their relative received. One told us 'X loves it there. The staff couldn't be nicer people. We are more than happy with it there.' Another relative said 'We find it very good there; excellent.'
We found that people had comprehensive care plan files, which contained lots of information on how people wanted to be supported, and what they were able to contribute themselves. This meant support staff could be clear about what type of support a person needed, and which parts of tasks they were able to do for themselves.
The manager told us that the service had been through a difficult period and they had only recently been confirmed in post. Following the sudden death of the previous manager, they were asked to be acting manager after only two months at the service. People also told us how difficult it had been for them losing their previous manager who had been at the service for about eight years. One told us 'No ' one wanted anyone from outside for the manager's job. We had a residents meeting and they listen to you here. I was over the moon that x got the job as it's someone I know and can trust.' A relative told us 'It must have been very difficult for staff, dealing with their own grief, plus running the home, plus supporting the people who are living there through their grief, but they (the people living there) were very well supported at Northfield.'
We found that the new manager was still trying to sort through a lot of the office paperwork and although some progress had been made there were still lots of documents we saw that were out of date, obsolete, or not readily accessible to staff. We also saw that the manager found it difficult to find or tell us about some of the information we needed for the inspection as they didn't know where to find it or what the provider's policy was. When we asked if the manager had received any additional support and training to deal with the exceptional circumstances they said they had asked but had not yet received any from the provider. The manager told us that they were aware of the things that still needed to be done and were putting together an action plan in January 2014 with the staff team to try and address the outstanding areas that needed attention.
Whilst at the service we heard and saw staff talking with people and offering them choice and support in a patient and positive way.