24 May 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
People's experience of using this service and what we found
Although the staff we spoke with understood their responsibility to report and raise safeguarding concerns recent incidents at the service highlighted that policy and procedure were not always followed. The appropriate action had not been taken by some senior staff when they had been alerted to recent concerns. Equally staff who had raised the concerns had not escalated these to management or the local authority when their concerns had been ignored.
There were enough staff to meet people's needs. The manager used a dependency tool to calculate staffing levels. This was increased when people’s needs changed and in line with the occupancy of the home. The home followed appropriate recruitment practices and ensured staff were properly checked before they began working at the home.
People and staff felt positive about the management of the home. Effective quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of people’s care. Audits helped to identify any shortfalls. The manager was being supported by the regional support manager. They were temporarily based at the home. The regional director had good oversight of the home. They visited regularly and carried out checks of the home. Out of hours checks on the home took place unannounced and were carried out by senior management.
Rating at last inspection
The service was taken over by another provider and registered with us April 2020. We have not rated the service at this inspection.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted due to safeguarding concerns which had been reported to us by the service and the local authority safeguarding team. This was in relation to safeguarding people from abuse and the process which staff followed to report such concerns. At the time of this inspection the concerns were being investigated by the service and other agencies involved. We inspected to examine those areas of risk and to check that people were safe. This was a targeted inspection to look at key areas of the safe and well-led key question.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.