Archived: The New Barn

Updated 12 January 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 June 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector. Before our inspection we spoke with the local authority to share information they held about the home. We also looked at our own systems to see if we had received any concerns or compliments about the home.  We reviewed information on statutory notifications we had received from the provider. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We used this information to help us plan our inspection of the home.

On the day of our visit we spoke with four people who used the service, four care staff, the operation manager and the manager. We looked at two care plans, risk assessments, medication administration records, accident reports, staff rotas, training programme and quality assurance monitoring audits. We observed care practices and how staff interacted with people.

Updated 12 January 2016

This inspection took place on 26 June 2015 and was unannounced.

The New Barn provides accommodation and personal care for people who have a learning disability for a maximum of 11 people. On the day of our inspection the home was fully occupied.

The provider had recently appointed a manager who told us that they had submitted an application to be registered with the Commission. The manager was present for 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 told us that they felt safe living in the home and staff knew how to protect people from potential harm. We saw that people were able to live a lifestyle of their choice and staff supported them to reduce potential risks whilst doing so. People informed us that staff were always available when they needed them and we saw that staff were always nearby to support people when required.

Staff told us that they had access to regular training and were supported by the manager to undertake their role. The manager and staff were aware of how to promote people’s human rights. People told us that they were involved in the menu planning and had a choice of meals and told us that they had access to drinks at all times. People told us that staff supported them to access relevant health care services when needed to ensure their healthcare needs were met.

People told us that they were happy with the care they had received and we saw staff assist them in a caring and dignified manner. People were encouraged to be involved in decisions about their care to ensure they received care and support the way they liked. People told us that staff did respect their rights to privacy and dignity and staff were aware of their responsibility of ensuring this.

People told us that they were involved in their assessment of their needs. Staff supported people to access leisure services within their local community and to attend the local college to learn new skills. People had access to the provider’s complaint policy and knew how to how to make a complaint.

Staff told us that the management team were supportive and always put people’s needs first. The manager demonstrated a clear leadership style and made them self available to people who used the service and the staff team. The manager had reviewed the provider’s quality assurance monitoring system and had plans to improve this to ensure people received a safe and effective service.