We carried out this unannounced inspection on 11 September 2015. We last inspected this service on 28 June 2013. At that inspection we found that the provider was meeting all of the regulations that we assessed.
Briarfield provides personal care and accommodation for up to seven people who have a learning disability, and some people had more complex healthcare needs. West House, a local not for profit organisation, is the provider who runs the home. The home is a detached dormer bungalow adapted for its current use as a care home and it is situated in a suburban area of the town of Workington. All bedrooms are on the ground floor, with office and a staff bedroom on the first floor. The home has a range of equipment suitable to meet the needs of the people living there. It has a lounge, dining room and wide corridors for those who use a wheelchair to get around. Bathrooms and showers rooms have been adapted to meet the needs of people in the home.
There was a registered manager employed at the home. 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 in this service had limited verbal communication so we used other means to make a judgement about how people were cared for and supported. We observed people with the staff team. We saw that people who lived in the home were comfortable with the staff who worked there.
Relatives told us that they felt their family members were safe living in this home and said that the staff supported them to maintain good health.
We saw that people were being treated with dignity, respect and care. There were affectionate and caring relationships between the care staff in the home and the people who lived there. The staff knew how people communicated and gave people the time they needed to make choices about their lives and to communicate their decisions, wherever possible.
People were protected from the risk of abuse because the staff in the home understood their responsibility to keep people safe and the actions to take if they were concerned a person may be at risk of harm.
The service had carried out risk assessments to ensure that they identified potential hazards and protected people from harm.
Medicines were ordered, stored, administered and disposed of correctly.
There were enough staff to provide the care that people needed and to support people to follow the activities they enjoyed.
People enjoyed the meals provided in the home. We saw that special diets were well catered for and staff sought out expert advice from dieticians and speech and language therapists to ensure people were given support to maintain a healthy diet.
All the staff employed in the home had received training to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to provide the support people needed. Staff met regularly with their manager for supervision.
The registered manager of the home was knowledgeable about the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, (DoLS). The focus of the home was on promoting individuals’ rights and independence and no one in the home had any unauthorised restrictions on their right to make their own choices.
Medicines were handled safely in the home and people received their medication as prescribed by their doctor. People told us that the staff in the home supported them to attend health care appointments as they needed. People were supported to maintain good health because they had access to appropriate health care services.
Staff had worked hard to ensure that the service and those who used it were involved with, and went out in their local community.
Care plans were written in a straightforward manner and based on thorough assessments. They contained sufficient information to enable people to be supported correctly.
The registered manager promoted a positive culture that was open, inclusive and empowering. The provider had systems in place to ensure the delivery of good quality care.