Shaldon House

Updated 5 February 2019

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.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales.

We spoke with five people who used the service and spent time with other people. We spoke with the registered manager and three members of staff. We also spoke to a health care professional.

We looked at the care records for two people lived at the home and other associated records We also looked at records relating to the running of the service. This included staffing rotas, policies and procedures, quality checks that had been completed, supervision and training information for all staff.

Updated 5 February 2019

Shaldon House is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This inspection was carried out on the 09 January 2018. Shaldon House provides accommodation and personal care for 10 people. There were nine people living in the home at the time of the inspection. People who live at the Shaldon House have a learning disability. This was an unannounced inspection, which meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

The service was last inspected in November 2017 when it was rated as requires improvements overall. This was due to a shortfall in staff training and staff supervision. These shortfalls had not been picked up and addressed by the providers own audit systems at that time. At this inspection we found that action had been taken and the shortfalls we had found had been fully addressed.

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.

There was a registered manager for the service. 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.

As was applicable at our last inspection we found there were enough staff supporting people who lived at the home.

People continued to be protected from the risk of abuse. This was because there were still clear procedures in place to recognise and respond to abuse. The staff had been trained in how to follow the procedures. Systems were still in place to ensure people were safe. These including risk management, checks on the equipment, fire systems and safe recruitment processes. People still had a care plan that set out how they wanted to be supported in a person-centred way

Systems to support staff such as one to one meetings were now happening at regular intervals and, there were now annual appraisals of staff’s performance. Training lapses had now been addressed and staff had started or now completed a full range of training while working at Shaldon House.

People continued to have access to healthcare professionals when they became unwell or required specialist equipment. Feedback from health and social care professionals was positive about the staff’s approach to people and the way they delivered care.

People continued to be supported with a range of meaningful activities in their home and the community. People were still able to maintain contact with friends and family.

People continued to be treated in a kind respectful and dignified way. This showed that people’s rights were still protected. Where people lacked the capacity to make choices and decisions, staff ensured people’s rights were protected by involving relatives or other professionals in the decision-making process. The provider had submitted applications for a deprivation of liberty to the relevant authorities. This was to ensure people were not deprived of their liberty without authorisation.

People’s views were sought through house meetings and annual surveys. It was evident that people were happy at Shaldon House and felt it was their home. The registered manager promoted stable leadership and a calm, positive place to work and live. This benefitted people who lived at the home. People were supported to make decisions about the way the service was run.