Archived: Harleith

Updated 22 June 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 comprehensive inspection took place on 28, 29 January 2016 and 3 February and was unannounced. One CQC inspector visited the home on each day.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included information about incidents the provider had notified us of. We also asked the local authority who commissions the service for their views on the care and service given by the home. Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the three day inspection we met and spoke with four of the people living at Harleith. We also spoke with the manager and five support workers, one of whom was a team leader and a visiting relative. Following the inspection visit we spoke with a further two people’s relatives.

We observed how people were supported in communal areas and looked at three people’s care, treatment and support records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service including staffing rota’s, staff recruitment and training records, policies, premises maintenance records, staff meeting minutes, quality monitoring reports and medicine administration records (MARs).

Updated 22 June 2016

This unannounced comprehensive inspection took place on 28, 29 January and 3 February 2016.

Harleith is a care home registered to accommodate a maximum of eight people with learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection eight people were living at the home.

There was a registered manager employed at the home. 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.’

We received very positive feedback from people and their relatives regarding living at Harleith. People told us they, “Really enjoyed” living there and relatives said, “It’s a lovely home, we never have to worry” and the care was, “Excellent”.

People told us they felt safe at the home. Staff knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse and the provider had a system in place to protect people from the risk of harm.

People told us the staff were, “Very nice, always friendly and helpful”. We observed people sought staff out to chat and talk to and staff and people were relaxed with each other and spent time chatting and spending quality time with each other. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and knew how people preferred to be supported.

Staff told us they received training, which they found useful and effective. Some training records were out of date, however the manager confirmed the provider was looking at delivering the training in a different method. Staff received detailed, regular supervision sessions but had not received an annual appraisal during 2015.

People were treated with dignity and respect and their privacy was protected at all times. People’s needs were assessed and areas of risk were assessed and reviewed to ensure peoples’ safety.

People’s medicines were securely stored and managed and people were supported to take their prescribed medicines in a timely way.

People were able to choose their menu’s and were provided with a choice of healthy food and drink. People’s on going health needs were monitored which included appropriate referrals to health professionals when required.

People were supported to take part in a wide range of activities, hobbies and work placements to maintain their independence and promote a healthy lifestyle. People could choose where they spent their time.

Complaint forms were available in the home in an ‘easy read’ format for people to use if they wanted to express a concern. People said they would be happy to raise any issues with any members of staff and felt they would be taken seriously and listened to.

People told us they felt the service was well led, with a clear management structure in place.

The provider was developing a revised quality assurance system to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.