Archived: Lambourne House

Updated 17 January 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.

This inspection took place on 28 December 2018 and was unannounced.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and one dentist inspector. This service was selected to be part of our national review, looking at the quality of oral health care support for people living in care homes. The inspection team included a dental inspector who looked in detail at how well the service supported people with their oral health. This includes support with oral hygiene and access to dentists. We will publish our national report of our findings and recommendations in 2019.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We checked the information we held about the registered provider and the home. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and accidents that had occurred at the home. A notification is information about important events which occur at the home that they are required to send us by law.

We used a range of different methods to help us understand people's experiences. Most of the people who lived at the home had limited verbal communication. Therefore, we observed the interaction between people and the staff who supported them in communal areas throughout the inspection visit.

We spoke with three people who used the service. We spoke with the locality manager, registered manager, a senior support worker and two support workers.

To help us assess how people’s care needs were being met, we looked at three care plan files, four staff recruitment files, three medication administration records (MARs), all the staff training records, complaints, policies and procedures and other records that related to the running of the home.

Following the inspection, we emailed four relatives for their views regarding the safety and quality of the services provided for people. Their feedback is included in this report.

Updated 17 January 2019

This comprehensive inspection took place on 28 December 2018 and was unannounced.

Lambourne House is a care home for nine adults with a learning disability and or autistic spectrum disorders. At the time of our inspection there were nine people living at the service. The service was provided from a domestic style nine-bedroom house over two floors. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered person’s'. 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.

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.

Relatives told us they felt their family members were safe living at Lambourne House. Staff described procedures that were in place to safeguard the people they supported. They fully understood the safeguarding policies and procedures and felt confident to raise a concern and thought they would be listened to. Risks to people's safety had been assessed and care records contained risk assessments to manage identified risks.

Recruitment systems at the home continued to be safe and robust. There were sufficient trained and competent staff to meet people's individual assessed needs. The staff were supported by the management team through on-going supervision and team meetings.

People received their medicines as prescribed and staff knew how to manage medicines safely.

The design and layout of the building was hazard free and met the needs of people who lived there. All areas of the home were clean and in a good state of repair with equipment maintained.

People received care that was personalised and responsive to their needs. People's needs that related to age, disability, religion or other protected characteristics were considered throughout the assessment and care planning process. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were involved in the planning of meals and menus. They received appropriate nutrition and hydration support to maintain their health and wellbeing.

We observed kind and caring interactions between people and staff. People living in the home praised the caring nature of the care staff and registered manager. People were involved in planning their care and supported to engage in meaningful activities of their choice.

The registered provider had a clear complaints policy and procedure that people and their relatives were familiar with and felt confident any concerns would be listened to.

The registered manager was accessible, supportive and had good leadership skills. Staff were aware of the values of the provider and understood their roles and responsibilities. Morale was good within the workforce.

The service had a quality assurance system and shortfalls were identified and addressed. There was a culture of listening to people and positively learning from events so similar incidents were not repeated. As a result, the quality of the service continued to develop.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.