Archived: Sampson House

Updated 12 January 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider was 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.

We visited Boultham Park on 29 and 30 November 2017 and our inspection was announced. We gave the registered persons a short period of notice before we called to the service. This was because the people who used the service had complex care needs and benefited from knowing that we would be calling and because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to speak with us. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector.

At our last inspection on 3 November 2015 the service was rated ‘Requires Improvement’. At this inspection we found the service was ‘Good’.

In preparation for, and as part of this inspection we reviewed information that we held about the service. This included information the provider sent us in their Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We also reviewed notifications of incidents that the registered persons had sent us since they had been registered with us. These are events that happened in the service that the registered persons are required to tell us about. We also looked at information that had been sent to us by other organisations and agencies such as the local authority who commissioned services from the registered persons and the local authority safeguarding team.

As part of our inspection we invited people to speak with us about their experience of the care they received. We obtained feedback from people in a variety of ways. We met with a group of nine people who received support from the service and spoke with two other people who asked to meet with us separately. We also met with four relatives of people who used the service. In addition at their request we made contact with one person and eight other relatives by telephone so that we could ask them about their views of the quality of care provided.

We met with a group of eight care staff who were also called ‘support workers.’ We sometimes refer to staff as ‘support workers' in this report. We also spoke with one support worker separately, the registered manager, one of the services deputy managers and the service's operations manager.

We looked at a range of documents and written records. These included the care records for six people who received support and information relating to the administration of their medicines. We also looked at the recruitment information related to six staff members, information about how staff were deployed and the systems the registered persons had in place to audit and monitor the overall quality service provision.

Updated 12 January 2018

Boultham Park is part of Linkage Community Trust, a national charity based in Lincolnshire. This service provides care and support, mainly to people who have a learning disability, living in a number of ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live in their own home as independently as possible. At the time of this inspection people’s care and housing were provided under separate contractual agreements in 17 flats and 10 bungalows. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

We inspected the service on 29 and 30 November 2017. Our inspection was announced.

At the time of our inspection there were 30 people using the services provided by Boultham Park. Eighteen of the people received support through the regulated activity ‘personal care’. We reviewed the arrangements in place to care for and support six of those people.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers (‘the provider’) 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. In this report when we speak both about the company the area director, the registered manager and the acting manager we refer to them as being, ‘The registered persons’.

At our last inspection on 20 and 21 October 2016 the service was rated, 'Requires Improvement'. Although there were no breaches of the regulations we found that improvements were needed to ensure that people reliably benefited from using a responsive and well-led service. At the present inspection we found the concerns we had previously raised had been addressed. As a result we have rated the service as being, 'Good'.

In more detail, peoples care and support needs were monitored and kept under review so that any changes in need identified could be acted on in a timely way by the registered persons.

There was a range of audit and review systems in place to help monitor and keep improving the quality of the services provided.

Risks in relation to people’s daily life were assessed and planned for to protect them from harm. People were supported by staff who knew how to recognise abuse and how to respond to concerns they identified. There was evidence of organisational learning from significant incidents and events. Any concerns or complaints were handled effectively.

We found there were sufficient support staff available to keep people safe and meet their care and needs and the senior and support staff worked well together in a mutually supportive way.

Good team work was promoted and staff were supported to speak out if they had any concerns about people not being treated in the right way. In addition, the registered persons were actively working in partnership with other agencies to support the development of joined-up care.

Training and supervision systems were in place to provide staff with the support, knowledge and skills they required to meet people’s needs effectively.

Staff were kind and attentive in their approach and people had access to the food and drink of their choice. When it was needed people were also supported to plan, purchase and prepare meals which met their individual needs and preferences in their own homes.

People's properties were serviced and maintained by the registered persons in ways which people told us helped them to be as independent as they chose to be. People also told us the overall wider physical environment and facilities provided by the registered persons generally reflected their individual requirements.

People’s medicines were managed safely and staff worked closely with local healthcare services to ensure people had access to any additional specialist healthcare support they needed. Support workers followed the registered person’s infection prevention and control procedures to ensure people were protected from the risks related to cross infection.

The registered persons had processes in place which ensured, when needed, they acted in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). This measure is intended to ensure that people are supported to make decisions for themselves. When this is not possible the Act requires that decisions are taken in people’s best interests. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

There was a positive culture in the service that was open, inclusive and focused upon achieving good outcomes for people. People benefited from there being a clear management structure which helped support staff to understand their responsibilities so that risks and regulatory requirements were met. The views of people who lived in the service, relatives and staff had been gathered and acted on to help shape any improvements that were made. Quality checks had been completed to ensure people benefited from the service being able to quickly put problems right so that people could consistently receive safe care.