Archived: Parkhill Care Homes

Updated 24 December 2016

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.

Before the inspection we looked at all the information we had about the service. This information included statutory notifications that the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We used this information to help inform our inspection planning.

This inspection took place on 14 November 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a supported living service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The inspection team comprised of one inspector. The inspector visited the supported living units run by the provider and spoke with two people using the service and four staff members. They also made telephone calls to four of the relatives of people using the service. They looked at the care records of four people who used the service, staff training and recruitment records and records relating to the management of the service. They also spoke with social care professionals and asked them for their views about the service.

Updated 24 December 2016

This inspection took place on 14 November 2016 and was announced. At the time of this inspection Parkhill Care Homes was providing personal care and support to eight people living in two supported living units. At our last inspection on 15 October 2013, we found the provider was meeting the regulations in relation to outcomes we inspected.

The service had 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 responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that appropriate recruitment checks had not always taken place before staff started work to ensure staff were suitable for their roles as some required employment information that had not been obtained. However the registered manager took immediate action to address this and confirmed that all of the required information had been obtained during the course of the inspection and placed into staff files.

People using the service said they felt safe and that staff treated them well. Safeguarding adult’s procedures were robust and staff understood how to safeguard the people they supported from abuse. Appropriate procedures were in place to support people where risks to their health and welfare had been identified. There was a whistle-blowing procedure available and staff said they would use it if they needed to. People’s medicines were managed appropriately and people received their medicines as prescribed by healthcare professionals.

Staff had completed training specific to the needs of people using the service and they received regular supervision. The registered manager and staff demonstrated a clear understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and acted according to this legislation. People were provided with sufficient amounts of nutritional food and drink to meet their needs and they had access to a GP and other healthcare professionals when they needed them.

People were provided with appropriate information about the service. This ensured they were aware of the standard of care they should expect. People and their relatives, where appropriate, had been involved in planning for their care needs. There was a complaints procedure in place in a format that people could understand.

The provider recognised the importance of regularly monitoring the quality of the service provided to people. People were enabled to express their views and opinions about the service. Staff said they enjoyed working at the service and they received good support from the registered manager and provider. There was an out of hours on call system in operation that ensured management support and advice was always available when staff needed it.