The inspection took place on 4 December 2014 and was an announced inspection. We gave short notice of our visit. This was due to the nature and size of the service and that the manager and people living in the home may be unavailable if we had visited unannounced.
The last inspection of this service was on 15 April 2013 when the service was meeting all of the relevant requirements.
14 Church Road is a bungalow in a residential area. It has two bedrooms, a lounge, a dining area and a kitchen. It provides a service for up to two to younger adults with autism or learning disability.
There was not a registered manager in post, although an application for this has been received by the commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 Care Quality Commission monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. DoLS are part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) legislation which is designed to ensure that the human rights of people who may lack capacity to make decisions are protected. The manager told us how the one person living in the home had been supported with this.
Improvements were needed to some of the documents and paperwork held within the home to ensure these were up to date and complete. This was a breach of regulation 20 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and you can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.
The quality assurance systems required improvements to make sure they were effective in reviewing the systems in the home when meeting people’s needs. This was a breach of regulation 10 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and you can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.
Systems were in place to support people to take risks in their lives and to be protected from harm.
People were supported by staff who had had been checked to help make sure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people.
People were supported by the right amount of staff and this had been determined based on their individual needs.
People were supported with any medication needs although some improvements were required with the paperwork and policies for this.
People were supported by staff who received an induction and training to help them have the skills and knowledge to support people effectively. However, paperwork for this required improvement.
People were supported with the meeting of their dietary and health needs. Although some minor improvements were required with the paperwork for this.
We observed staff to be polite and caring. Feedback was that staff had developed positive relationships with the person.
People’s individual choices and decisions were respected and people were treated with respect and dignity. Staff had a good knowledge of the individual’s needs and preferences. They supported the person to make choices in their daily life and to undertake their preferred activities.
Systems were in place for people to be consulted about the home and staff felt there was a good culture.