The inspection was unannounced and took place on the 20 January 2016. Following this an announced visit to the head office of the David Lewis Centre to look at recruitment and training records and phone calls to the family members of the people living in the home took place on the 22 and 26 January respectively.Westbury Drive is part of the David Lewis Centre’s ‘Community Programme’ and is registered to provide accommodation for four people who require support and care with their daily living. The home is located in a residential area in Macclesfield. The two storey domestic property is close to local amenities. Staff members are available twenty four hours a day. At the time of our visit there were two people living in the house.
Westbury Drive 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.
The registered manager, (their job title within the organisation was service manager), did not work in the home on a daily basis. Day to day management was provided by a residential manager who had responsibility for a total of four services operated by David Lewis and the team leaders who managed each shift.
Because of their communication needs we were unable to fully confirm from the people living at Westbury Drive what they thought about the home and the staff members supporting them. To help with this process we were able to speak to a family member on the telephone.
The service had a range of policies and procedures which helped staff refer to good practice and included guidance on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. This meant that the staff members were aware of people's rights to make their own decisions. They were also aware of the need to protect people's rights if they had difficulty in making decisions for themselves.
We asked staff members about training and they confirmed that they received regular training throughout the year, they described this as their mandatory training and that it was up to date.
The care plans, which within the David Lewis Centre were called common care files were reviewed regularly so staff knew what changes, if any, had been made. The files each had a ‘one page profile’ which explained what was important to the individual and how best to support them. This helped to ensure that people’s needs continued to be met.
Staff members we spoke with were positive about how the home was being managed. Throughout the inspection we observed them interacting with each other in a professional manner. The staff members we spoke with were positive about the service and the quality of the support being provided.
The relationships we saw were warm, respectful, dignified and with plenty of smiles. Everyone in the service looked relaxed and comfortable with the staff.
We found that the provider and the home used a variety of methods in order to assess the quality of the service they were providing to people. These included regular audits on areas such as the care files, including risk assessments, medication, individual finances and staff training. The records were being maintained properly.