Archived: Henderson and Harvard

Updated 16 November 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.

The inspection took place on 4 September 2015 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service including safeguarding alerts and statutory notifications which related to the service. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

We focused on speaking with people who lived at the service and observing how people were cared for. A significant number of the people at the service had very complex needs and were not able verbally to talk with us, or chose not to, so we used observation as our main tool to gather evidence of people’s experiences of the service. We spoke with two family members, four care staff and met with the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of documents and records including care records for people who used the service, and those relating to the employment of staff, complaints, accidents and incidents and the management of the service.

Updated 16 November 2015

The inspection took place on 4 September 2015 and was unannounced.

Henderson and Harvard provides accommodation and care for up to eight people with a learning disability and physical disabilities within two bungalows. The service does not provide nursing care. At the time of our inspection there were eight people using the service.

A registered manager was in post at the service. 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.

The service had appropriate systems in place to keep people safe, and staff followed these guidelines when they supported people. There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s care needs. There were systems in place to manage medicines and people were supported to take their prescribed medicines safely. The provider had a robust recruitment process in place to protect people from the risk of avoidable harm.

The service was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Appropriate mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions had been undertaken by relevant professionals. This ensured that the decision was taken in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005, DoLS and associated Codes of Practice. The Act, Safeguards and Codes of Practice are in place to protect the rights of adults by ensuring that if there is a need for restrictions on their freedom and liberty these are assessed and decided by appropriately trained professionals.

Staff supported people to have sufficient food and drink that met their individual needs. People’s health needs were managed by staff with input from relevant health care professionals.

People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect by staff who knew them well and their rights were upheld. Staff had the skills to support people to communicate their views and preferences. Detailed assessments had been carried out and personalised care plans were in place which reflected individual needs and preferences. The provider had an effective complaints procedure and people had confidence that concerns would be investigated and addressed.

There was an open culture and the management team demonstrated good leadership skills. Staff were enthusiastic about their roles and they were able to express their views. The provider had systems in place to check the quality of the service and take the views and concerns of people and their relatives into account to make improvements to the service.