Archived: Millwater

Updated 6 July 2015

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 7 May 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection was undertaken by two inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Before our inspection we looked at the information we held about the service. This included notifications received from the provider about deaths, accidents/incidents and safeguarding alerts which they are required to send us by law. We also reviewed regular reports sent to us by the local authority that purchased the care on behalf of people, to see what information they held about the service.

During our inspection we spoke with seven people, two relatives, four care staff and the registered manager. We looked at the complaints records and sampled three people’s care records; this included their health records and risk assessments. We also looked at the recruitment records of four care staff, minutes of staff meetings and quality assurance records.

Updated 6 July 2015

The inspection took place on 7 May 2015 and was unannounced. At our last inspection of 29 May 2014 improvements were needed in the way the quality of the service was monitored. Following that inspection we received an action plan showing the actions that were to be taken to address the shortfalls. At this inspection we found that the action plan had been complied with.

Millwater is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 19 people with learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection 14 people were living there.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 responsibilities for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were protected from harm because staff were able to identify abuse, were aware of the procedures and able to raise their concerns so that people were protect. Consent to support provided to people was gained by staff .

There were procedures in place to assess and manage risks associated with people’s care. Equipment was available to ensure people’s needs were met safely.

There were sufficient staff available on duty to support and meet people’s needs.

Recruitment checks were undertaken but not always operated effectively to ensure that only suitable people were employed. Staff received the training they needed to be able to meet people’s needs safely.

People were supported to maintain their health because they received support to eat and drink sufficient amounts and received medical support when needed.

People received care from staff that were caring and respected their wishes, privacy, dignity and independence.

People were involved in assessing and planning their care and staff knew the people they supported. People felt their needs were being met. People were able to raise their concerns or complaints and felt they would be listened to.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service but some improvements could be made.