Archived: Clayhall Lodge

Updated 26 July 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 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 the 21 June 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a small supported living service for younger adults who are often out during the day and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we already held about this service. This included details of its registration, previous inspection reports and any notifications of serious incidents the provider had sent us. Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We contacted the local authority with responsibility for commissioning care from the service to seek their views.

During the inspection we spoke with one person who used the service and five staff. This included the registered manager, deputy manager, a support worker, the care coordinator (who was one of the owners of the business) and a director. We reviewed two sets of records relating to people including care plans, risk assessments and medicines records. We looked at minutes of various meetings and sampled some of the policies and procedures. We examined the quality assurance and monitoring systems used at the service.

Updated 26 July 2018

This inspection took place on the 21 June 2018 and was announced. The previous inspection took place on the 22 August 2017. At that time, we had insufficient evidence to give the service a rating. We did not find any breaches of regulations at that time.

This service provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. Two people were using the service at the time of our inspection.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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 have made one recommendation in this report, that the service seeks ways to provide people support with activities in line with their stated preferences and assessed needs.

There were enough staff working at the service to meet people’s needs and robust staff recruitment procedures were in place. Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place. Risk assessments provided information about how to support people in a safe manner. Procedures had been developed to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. Medicines were managed in a safe way.

People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service to determine if those needs could be met. Staff received on-going training and supervision to support them in their role. People were able to make choices for themselves and the service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People told us they enjoyed the food. They were supported to access relevant health care professionals.

People told us they were treated with respect and that staff were caring. Staff had a good understanding of how to promote people’s privacy, independence and dignity. We saw staff interacting with people in a caring manner. Steps had been taken to promote people’s right to confidentiality.

Care plans were in place which set out how to meet people’s individual needs. They were subject to regular review. The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint.

Staff and people spoke positively about the senior staff at the service. Systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of support provided. Some of these included seeking the views of people who used the service.