Background to this inspection
Updated
29 March 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
The inspection visit was carried out on 19 February 2019.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector.
Service and service type:
West House -47 Sandy Lonning is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
The inspection was unannounced.
What we did:
Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held on the service and completed our planning tool. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least annually to give some key information about the service. We also reviewed the information we held about the service, such as quality monitoring reports and notifications we had received from the registered provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We spoke with social workers, health care practitioners and commissioners of care during our regular contact with them.
We visited the home and met all of the seven people who lived there. We also met one relative. We spoke to them individually and in groups. We read all seven care files, three health files and related forms and documents.
We spent time with the registered manager and we spoke with three support workers and an apprentice support worker. We looked at four staff personnel files.
We walked around the home and spent time in the shared areas with people in the home. We saw some records related to maintenance and things like fire and food safety. We saw quality audits and discussed some of the policies and procedures with the staff.
Updated
29 March 2019
About the service:
West House 47 Sandy Lonning is a residential care home. It can accommodate up to seven people who are living with a learning disability or autism. People have single bedrooms, some of which have ensuite bathrooms or toilets. The home has suitable shared facilities and good outside space. The home does not provide nursing care.
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.
People’s experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe and staff had received suitable training about protecting vulnerable adults.
Risk assessments and risk management plans supported people well.
Good arrangements were in place to ensure that new members of staff had been suitably vetted and that they were the right kind of people to work with vulnerable adults. Accidents and incidents were responded to appropriately.
People told us they had support from "great staff". The registered manager kept staffing rosters under review as people's needs changed. We judged that the service employed enough support staff by day and night to meet people's needs.
People told us staff understood their needs. Staff were appropriately inducted, trained and developed to give the best support possible. We met team members who understood people's needs and who had suitable training and experience in their roles.
People were happy with the arrangements for medicines support. Medicines were suitably managed in the service with people having reviews of their medicines on a regular basis.
People in the home saw their GP and health specialists whenever necessary. Staff took the advice of nurses and consultants. The staff team had good working relationships with local GP surgeries.
Good assessments of need were in place, and the staff team reviewed the delivery of care for effectiveness. They worked with health and social care professionals to ensure that assessment and review of support needed was suitable and up to date.
People told us they liked the food provided and we saw suitably prepared meals being served. Nutritional planning was in place and special diets catered for appropriately.
West House - 47 Sandy Lonning is a modern house in a residential area that has been adapted and extended to provide seven single rooms and suitable shared areas. The house was warm, clean and comfortable on the day we visited. Suitable equipment was available. People told us they liked "our house...it's our home".
The staff team were aware of their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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 who lived in the home told us that the staff were caring. We also observed kind and patient support being provided. Staff supported people in a respectful way. They made sure that confidentiality, privacy and dignity were maintained.
Risk assessments and care plans provided detailed guidance for staff in the home. People in the service were aware of their care plans and had influenced the content. The management team had ensured the plans reflected the person-centred care that was being delivered.
Staff could access specialists if people needed communication tools like sign language or braille.
People told us staff encouraged them to follow their own activities, interests and hobbies.
The service had a comprehensive quality monitoring system and people were asked their views in a number of different ways. Quality assurance was used to support future planning. People were aware of future plans to change the service to a supported living house.
We had evidence to show that the registered manager and senior officers of the provider were able to deal with concerns or complaints appropriately.
Records were well organised, easy to access and stored securely. Easy read formats were used where appropriate.
More information is in the full report.
Rating at last inspection:
Good 3 November 2016
Why we inspected:
This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received .
Follow up
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk