The Whitby Scheme

Updated 3 February 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 inspection took place on 5 December 2017 and was unannounced. A second day of inspection took place on 13 December 2017 which was announced. The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. The area of their expertise was in care of people with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder.

As part of planning our inspection, we contacted the local Healthwatch and local authority safeguarding and quality performance teams to obtain their views about the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer group, which gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We reviewed information we held about the service, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to tell us about within required timescales.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider had submitted the PIR within the required timescales.

We visited all four of the services registered under the location The Whitby Scheme. We were given a tour of the facilities including people’s bedrooms when people gave permission.

During the inspection, we reviewed a range of records. These included three people's care records containing care planning documentation and daily records. We also viewed a number of medicine records and medicine storage facilities. We looked at four staff files relating to their recruitment, supervision, appraisal and training.

During the inspection process, we spoke with seven people who used the service, eight members of staff including the registered manager and both deputy manager.

Updated 3 February 2018

This inspection took place on 5 December 2017 and was unannounced. This meant the registered provider did not know we would be visiting the service. A second day of inspection took place on 13 December 2017 and this was announced.

The Whitby Scheme 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 Whitby Scheme accommodates 35 people across three separate homes, each of which have separate adapted facilities. Abbey House is the most recent addition and accommodates six people, Haven House accommodates six people, Anchor House can accommodate eight people and Endeavour House can accommodate 15 people. Three of the houses are situated close to one another around a courtyard with the fourth located about half a mile away. At the time of our inspection, 33 people were using the service.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the service remained Good.

There was a registered manager in post who assisted throughout the inspection.

Safe recruitment process had continued to be followed and appropriate pre-employment checks had been completed. A safeguarding policy was in place and staff were aware of the process to follow if they had any concerns. Risk assessments had been developed to reduce the risk of harm occurring. There was a sufficient number of staff on duty to support people.

Medicines had been stored, administered and recorded appropriately. Staff had received medicines training and had their competencies assessed by a senior member of staff. Person protective equipment such as gloves were available to staff to promote good infection control practice.

New staff had completed an induction to the service. Staff training records were up to date and specialist training had also been provided. Regular supervisions and appraisals had been conducted by management and staff told us they felt supported within their role.

People were empowered to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Policies and systems in the service support this practice. Consent to care and treatment was clearly documented and appropriate authorisations were in place when people lacked capacity to make decisions.

People were supported to maintain a balanced diet and people had access to their own GP and other healthcare professionals to promote their health.

People were supported to remain as independent as possible and there was clear emphasis on helping people maintain daily living skills. People were treated with dignity and their choices were respected by staff.

Initial and on-going needs assessments were completed. Transition periods were accommodated to ensure people could move smoothly between services. Care plans had been developed and included background information centred on the individual. There was a complaint policy in place which was displayed around the services in easy read format.

People gave us positive feedback about the management team. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. People were given the opportunity to feedback about the quality of care they received. We saw the management team responded in a timely manner to any feedback provided to enable the service to continuously improve.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.