15 August 2019
During a routine inspection
People’s experience of using services and what we found
People were safe. Staff knew what their responsibilities were about keeping people safe from the risk of abuse. There were enough staff and the provider followed safe recruitment practice.
People received the support they needed to stay healthy and to access healthcare services. Each person had an up to date care plan, which set out how their care and support needs should be met by staff. These were reviewed regularly.
Medicines were managed safely, only trained staff gave medicines and their competency to do this was checked regularly.
People continued to receive care from staff who were well supported. Staff received one to one supervision and annual appraisals together with induction and ongoing training. A member of staff told us, “The manager is always approachable,” and, “The owner asks us if we have any problems and we can email them, but I have not needed to.”
Staff understood the importance of promoting people’s choices and provided the support people required as well as promoting and maintaining their independence. This enabled people to achieve positive outcomes and promoted a good quality of life. One person told us, “I have had some health problems and they understand and they get the GP straight away. That’s reassuring, I get the support I need.”
Staff were caring and knew people, their preferences, likes and dislikes well. We received good feedback from people, relatives and healthcare professionals about the quality of care provided by staff. A visiting healthcare professional commented that they had no concerns about the support people received.
People’s rights, dignity and privacy were respected. People continued to be supported to maintain a balanced diet. Staff monitored nutritional needs and supported people to eat safely and at their own pace.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People participated in activities, pursued their interests and maintained relationships with people that mattered to them. One person told us, “I have been down to the local coffee house to have a coffee, you can go out here when you want.”
The service continued to be well led. Effective quality audits remained in place and continuous improvement and learning were embedded in the day to day running of the service. Everyone we spoke with were positive about the registered manager and staff.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (Report published on 02 September 2017).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about aspects of care planning, risk assessments and staffing. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks as part of a comprehensive inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe section of this full report.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.