Archived: The Hollies

Updated 28 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 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 26 November 2015 and 11 February 2016 and was unannounced. At the time of our inspection in November 2015, the registered manager was abroad on annual leave. It was agreed with the registered provider that we would complete the inspection upon their return. The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service including safeguarding alerts and other notifications. This refers specifically to incidents, events and changes the provider and manager are required to notify us about by law.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with five people who used the service, two members of care staff, the registered manager and the provider.

We reviewed five people’s care plans and care records. We looked at the service’s staff support records for five members of staff. We also looked at the service’s arrangements for the management of medicines, complaints and compliments information and quality monitoring and audit information.

Updated 28 April 2016

The inspection was completed on 26 November 2015 and 11 February 2016 and there were 10 people living in the service when we inspected.

The Hollies provides accommodation and personal care for up to 10 people who have a learning disability.

The service had a registered manager 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.

Staff had a good understanding and knowledge of safeguarding procedures and were clear about the actions they would take to protect the people they supported.

There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs. Appropriate recruitment checks were in place which helped to protect people and ensure staff were suitable to work at the service. Staff told us that they felt well supported in their role and received regular supervision.

Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were appropriately assessed, managed and reviewed. Support plans were sufficiently detailed and provided an accurate description of people’s care and support needs. People were supported to maintain good healthcare and had access to a range of healthcare services. The management of medicines within the service ensured people’s safety.

Appropriate assessments had been carried out where people living at the service were not able to make decisions for themselves and to help ensure their rights were protected.

People were supported to be able to eat and drink satisfactory amounts to meet their nutritional needs and the mealtime experience for people was positive. People were treated with kindness and respected by staff. Staff understood people’s needs and provided care and support accordingly. Staff had a good relationship with the people they supported.

An effective system was in place to respond to complaints and concerns. The provider’s quality assurance arrangements were appropriate to ensure that where improvements to the quality of the service was identified, these were addressed.