17 August 2016
During a routine inspection
The service had a registered manager. 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.
People felt safe and were supported by staff who knew how to keep them safe. A recent concern shared by a staff member had not been reported in a timely way, although lessons had been learnt following this. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and appropriately managed. People were supported by a sufficient number of staff. People received the support they needed to safely manage their medicines and did so with an appropriate degree of independence.
Staff had the knowledge and skills to care for people effectively and felt well supported. People received the level of support they required to have enough to eat and drink and were supported to access a range of healthcare services.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the use of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). We found this legislation was being used correctly to protect people who were not able to make their own decisions about the care they received. Where people had the capacity they were asked to provide their consent to the care being provided.
People were treated with kindness and respect by staff. Caring relationships had been developed and people were supported by staff who understood their personalities and the best way to engage with them. People and their relatives were able to be involved in the planning and reviewing of their care. Staff supported people to make day to day decisions.
People were provided with support that was responsive to their changing needs and staff helped people to maintain any hobbies and interests they had. There was a focus of helping people to set and achieve goals and to learn new skills. People felt able to make a complaint and were provided with an accessible complaints procedure. There was an appropriate response to any complaints received.
The culture of the service was open and honest and people and staff gave their opinions on how the service was run and suggestions were implemented where possible. The registered manager acknowledged that they had altered their approach to ensure they were more open to challenge from staff. There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and ensure that improvements to the service were made.