Agnes House Flat 1

Updated 31 October 2018

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 25 September 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. Providers are required by law to notify us about events and incidents that occur; we refer to these as ‘notifications’. We looked at the notifications the provider had sent to us. We also contacted the local authority who monitor and commission services, for information they held about the service. We did not request an updated Provider Information Return for this inspection. We used the information we had gathered to plan what areas we were going to focus on during our inspection.

We met the person who was using the service and spent time talking with them about their experiences of living at this service. We also observed how staff supported the person to help us understand their experience of using this service. We spoke with the person’s relative, three staff members and the registered manager. We looked at the care records for the person including how the person’s medicines were managed at the home. We reviewed two staff recruitment files, and staff training records. We also looked at records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service.

Updated 31 October 2018

This inspection took place on the 25 September 2018 and was unannounced. At our last inspection in November 2015 the service was meeting the regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Agnes House Flat 1 is registered to provide accommodation with personal care to one person with associate needs related to a learning disability, mental health and autism.

Agnes House Flat 1 is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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.

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

The person was supported by staff who knew how to manage risk and report concerns to keep them safe. The person was supported by staff at all times. The person received their medicines when they needed them and they received support to keep their home clean.

Staff had received training which enabled them to meet the person’s needs. The person’s human rights were promoted and staff obtained their consent before providing support.

Staff were observed to be respectful, kind and caring when interacting and supporting the person. Observations demonstrated that staff were responsive to the person’s needs. Staff encouraged the person to eat a healthy diet when choosing what they wanted to eat and drink. The person was supported to attend healthcare appointments to maintain their wellbeing.

The person told us they had someone they could talk to if they had any concerns. The staff knew the person well and were aware of the signs to look out for which may indicate the person was unhappy. The person had family and an advocate to ensure their human rights were being met.

The systems to monitor the quality of the service needed improvement as they did not identity some of the shortfalls we found during our visit. The registered manager took action to address some of these following our visit and an action plan was shared with us. We found some records were not readily accessible to us and we had to wait for information to be shared with us following our visit.