The inspection took place on 15, 16 and 17 June 2016 and was unannounced.Portland College is registered to provide accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care and/or treatment of disease, disorder and injury. The registered provider must only accommodate a maximum of 135 people at Portland College.
The service specialises in providing care and support for people with disabilities within a specialist college delivered on one site but within two different accommodations. Both accommodations are for people in a residential setting but the second, 'Portland Freedom', is for people who are more independent living in flats. At the time of the inspection there were 65 people using the service in both settings.
On the day of our inspection there were two registered managers in place. A head of care registered manager for the services registration of treatment of disease, disorder or injury and a nurse registered manager for the services registration of accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care. 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 told us that they felt safe. The risk of harm for people was reduced because staff knew how to recognise and report abuse. Staff were confident that the registered managers would deal with any concerns that they reported.
Staffing levels were adequate to meet people’s needs. Staff were recruited through safe recruitment practices. Medicines were safely administered and stored.
Staff received an induction, training and supervision and felt supported by the management team. People received sufficient to eat and drink. People had access to internal and external healthcare services.
Staff were trained in the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and could describe how people were supported to make decisions.
Staff were very caring and people felt listened to. Staff were aware of people's support needs and their personal preferences. People and/or their relatives were involved in the development and review of their care plans. People were encouraged to be independent and staff respected people’s privacy and dignity.
Daily records were up to date and gave a good overview of what had occurred for that person People had the opportunity to take part in a variety of activities inside and outside the service. Complaints were dealt with in a timely manner.
The registered managers were supportive, approachable and listened to people, relatives and staff. People and their relatives were involved or had opportunities to be involved in the development of the service. There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.