Archived: 94 Tennyson Road

Updated 30 March 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 was planned to check whether the provider is 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.

This inspection took place on 10 February 2016 and was announced. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). 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 reviewed this and also the information available to us about the home, such as the notifications that they had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We reviewed local authority inspection records and spoke to one professional involved with the service to gain their feedback.

During the inspection we spoke with two people using the service and two members of staff. We observed interactions between people and staff around the service. We looked at care records for two people using the service, four staff files containing training records, inductions and recruitment information and looked at risk assessments and emergency plans. We also reviewed records for medicine administration, audits, minutes of meetings, satisfaction surveys and healthcare records.

Updated 30 March 2016

This inspection took place on the 10 February 2016 and was unannounced. When we last inspected the home in May 2014 we found that the provider was meeting the legal requirements in the areas that we looked at.

94 Tennyson Road is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to four people with mental health needs and learning disabilities. The service is located in central Luton and shares a joint manager and staff team with another registered service on the same street. At the time of this inspection there were three people living at the home.

There was 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.

People were kept safe and risk assessments were completed which identified ways in which any risk of harm could be reduced. People were encouraged to maintain and develop their independence and enjoyed a range of activities in and out of the home. People had enough to eat and drink and maintained a healthy and balanced diet. Their care plans were detailed, person-centred and regularly reviewed with the input of people and their relatives. People’s healthcare needs were identified and they were supported to attend regular appointments with professionals where required. People were able to tell us about ways in which the service had helped to improve their mental health and supported them in the community. People’s medicines were stored and administered safely by trained and competent staff.

Staff were caring, committed and understood people’s needs well. They received a range of training which was specific and specialised to enable them to offer effective support to people. New staff were recruited safely to the service and undertook a full induction. The manager regularly supervised and undertook performance reviews with staff to support their continued development. Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and were able to describe how these affected people using the service. People had a named key worker who met with them regularly to discuss their care. People were treated with dignity and respect.

People and staff were positive about the manager of the service and felt well supported. Regular audits were carried out by the provider to ensure that records were up to date and that any improvements that needed to be made were resolved promptly. Records were well, maintained and subject to regular review to ensure they contained only the most up to date information. The service had a positive culture that promoted empowerment and independence and was responsive to people’s changing needs. Regular t meetings were held which provided people and staff with opportunities to discuss issues relating to the service and were used to drive continual improvement.