5 August 2015
During a routine inspection
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.