Archived: Mulberry House

Updated 21 August 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 was an unannounced inspection which was completed on 5 August 2015. One inspector carried out this inspection. The previous inspection was completed in October 2013 and there were no concerns.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they planned to make.

We reviewed the information included in the PIR along with information we held about the home. This included notifications, which is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We contacted three health care professionals to obtain their views on the service and how it was being managed. This included the local community learning disability team, a GP and a health care professional.

During the inspection we observed and spoke with people in the lounge, looked at two people’s records and those relating to the running of the home. This included staffing rotas, policies and procedures, two staff recruitment files and training information. We spoke with the four people about the care and support they received, two members of staff and the registered manager.

Updated 21 August 2015

Mulberry House provides accommodation and personal care for six people. People who live at the home have a learning disability. There were four men living at Mulberry House at the time of the visit. This was an unannounced inspection, which meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

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 responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We observed how care was being delivered and saw positive interactions between staff and the people living in Mulberry House. We saw that staff were caring, kind and showed compassion.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because there were clear procedures in place to recognise and respond to abuse. Staff had been trained to follow these procedures. Systems were in place to ensure people were safe, which included risk management and routine checks on the environment. People received their medicines safely. Safe recruitment processes were in place. People were involved in the recruitment of staff.

There was sufficient staff working to support the people living at Mulberry House. Staffing was planned to ensure people were supported both in the home and the community. People participated in regular social activities and went on an annual holiday. These were organised taking into consideration people’s interests and hobbies. Good links had been built with the local community and people were supported to attend church if they wanted to.

People had a care plan that described how they wanted to be supported in an individualised way. These had been kept under review involving the person. Care was effective and responsive to people’s changing needs. Positive strategies were in place to support people when they became upset or angry using diversional techniques. Staff used different forms of communication to enable them to build effective relationships with people.

People had access to health and social care professionals when required. People were supported to make day to day decisions. Where people lacked capacity to make complex decisions these were made in their best interest showing staff had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The registered manager had submitted applications to the appropriate authorities to ensure people were not deprived of their liberty without authorisation.

Staff were caring and supportive and demonstrated a good understanding of their roles in supporting people. Staff received training and support relevant to their roles. Systems were in place to ensure open communication which included team meetings and daily handovers. A handover is where important information is shared between the staff during shift changeovers. This ensured important information was shared between staff enabling them to provide care that was effective and consistent.

People’s views were sought through care reviews, monthly one to one meetings with their key worker and surveys and these were acted upon. Systems were in place to ensure complaints were responded to.

The service was well led. There was a team that was supported by a registered manager. Staff confirmed they received support and guidance from the management of the service.

People were provided with a safe, effective, caring and responsive service that was well led. The organisation’s values and philosophy were clearly explained to staff and there was a positive culture where people felt included and their views were sought. Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of the service to drive improvements.