Archived: Manon House

Updated 27 February 2020

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

Manon House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection:

We spoke with the two people who used the service about their experiences of the care and support provided. We observed interactions between people and staff. We spoke with three staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and a care support worker.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care records and their medicines administration records (MARs), staff files in relation to training and supervision information and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 27 February 2020

About the service

Manon House is a residential care home which can support up to 6 people in one adapted building. The service specialises in supporting people with mental health needs. There were 2 people using the service at the time of this inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The quality and safety of the service had improved for people since our last inspection. The provider had acted to make the premises safer for people by addressing the concerns we previously found. The provider made sure safety systems and equipment had been checked and serviced to make sure these were in good order and safe for use.

Cleanliness and hygiene around the premises had improved and communal areas and people’s rooms were cleaner, tidier and free from odours. Staff followed current practice when preparing and handling food which reduced hygiene risks.

Staff were now more up to date with current practice as the provider had made sure staff received relevant training to support people with their specific needs. Staff had opportunities to discuss their working practices with managers. These discussions were not always formally documented. Managers were taking action after this inspection to make sure this was done.

The provider had acted on the recommendation we made at the last inspection to seek current guidance and to update their practice in relation to medicines. Staff had received refresher training in safe handling of medicines so they were now up to date with current practice in how to manage and administer medicines in a safe and consistent way. Staff made sure people received the medicines prescribed to them.

The registered manager now fully understood their responsibility for meeting regulatory requirements. They notified us of events or incidents involving people which helped us check that appropriate action was taken to ensure the safety and welfare of people in these instances.

Despite the improvements made since the last inspection some areas of the service continued to need improvement. Information about the support people needed to meet life goals and aspirations was not always consistent and current. Managers were taking action after this inspection to make sure plans were up to date and supporting people to meet their goals.

Some of the activities planned for people were not always relevant to their social and cultural needs. We have made a recommendation about the provision of activities for people.

Although the provider had made improvements there were no formal mechanisms in place to monitor action was being taken where needed. This meant managers did not always make all the improvements needed in a timely manner.

Records had not been maintained in a consistent way so that they contained up to date and accurate information about people and staff. This was not having a significant impact on people at the time of this inspection but may present a risk in future.

People’s needs were assessed prior to them using the service to help plan the care and support they needed. People’s care plans contained information for staff about how their physical and mental health needs should be met. People told us their needs were met by staff. Staff were friendly and knowledgeable about people and how their needs should be met.

Staff helped people stay healthy and well. They supported people to eat and drink enough to meet their needs and to see healthcare professionals when they needed to. Recommendations from healthcare professionals were acted on so that people received the relevant care and support they needed in relation to their healthcare needs.

There were enough staff to support people. People said they were safe and staff treated them well. Staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse and how to manage identified risks to people to reduce the risk of injury and harm to them. Staff supported people to maintain their dignity, privacy and independence. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and staff were encouraged to give feedback about how the service could improve further. People knew how to make a complaint if needed. The provider had improved their complaints procedure since the last inspection and people now had current information about who to make a complaint to. The provider had arrangements in place to investigate accidents, incidents and complaints and kept people involved and informed of the outcome. Learning was shared with staff to help them improve the quality and safety of the support they provided.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 13 February 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations. However, the service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Updated 6 November 2015

We did not rate the service as this was a focussed inspection and did not cover all aspects of the service provided.