Archived: Blamsters Link

Updated 23 October 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 comprehensive inspection took place on the 24 September 2018. It was unannounced and was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed all the information we had available about the service, including notifications sent to us by the provider. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law. We used this information to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection. We also reviewed the information the provider had given us in their Provider Information Confirmation (PIC). This form asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well, and the improvements they plan to make. We also sought feedback from commissioners who had funded people to live there and monitored the service.

During our inspection, we spent time observing the people to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk to us. We spoke to three support workers, the staff member applying to become the registered manager, and the coordinator. We spoke with one person and two relatives.

We looked at the care records of three people to see whether they reflected the care given and three staff recruitment records. We looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, training information for care staff, minutes of meetings with staff and people who lived in the home and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 23 October 2018

Blamsters Link is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care under a contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection. Blamsters Link accommodates up to five people who may have a learning disability, in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection, five people were using the service.

This inspection took place on 5 April 2018. The inspection was unannounced, this meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

There was no registered manager in post at the service, but a staff member had been recruited who planned to apply for their registration. 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 were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Policies and systems in the service supported this practice. A range of activities was provided, which included involvement and use of local and wider community based activities.

The service had appropriate systems in place to keep people safe and staff followed these guidelines when they supported people. There were sufficient numbers of care staff available to meet people’s care needs and people received their medication as prescribed and on time.

People were cared for and supported by staff that understood their needs and knew them well. Staff treated people with dignity and respect and were sensitive to their needs. The care and support people received was individualised.

The provider had a robust recruitment process in place. Staff had been recruited safely with the skills and knowledge to provide care and support to people.

People’s health and emotional needs were assessed, monitored and met in order for them to live well. The service worked closely with relevant health care professionals and people received the support they needed to have a healthy diet that met their individual needs and choices.

There were systems in place to drive improvement and audits were carried out on a regular basis, which looked at the quality of the service people received. The registered manager had a clear oversight of the service.

Further information is in the detailed report below.