Sandy Mount

People’s experience of using this service:

People supported by the service and their relatives consistently told us the registered manager and staff who supported them were caring and professional in their approach to their work.

There were enough staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. Staff understood how to manage any risks to people and knew the processes to follow to manage any allegations of abuse.

Potential risks to people had been identified and measures were put in place to reduce the likelihood of harm. People had been involved with decisions in how to reduce the risk of harm to them.

People were supported by staff who received appropriate training and support to carry out their roles and responsibilities. Staff felt supported by the management team.

People received support to eat and drink if this was part of their care plan. Staff knew how to access relevant healthcare professionals, and this was evidenced in people’s care records. The service worked in partnership with other organisations and healthcare professionals to improve people's outcomes.

People's care and support had been planned proactively and in partnership with them. People felt consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered. 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.

Staff knew people well and supported them in line with their current needs and wishes. Staff were knowledgeable about people's likes and dislikes and personal preferences.

People and their relatives were aware of the complaints procedure although they had not needed to use this.

The service was well-led by a team of managers who were passionate about improving the lives of the people living at the service.

The provider and registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. We saw detailed provider audits, measuring the service against best practice to ensure a good standard of care provision.

The service worked in partnership with other organisations such as the local authority and health professionals and the voluntary sector. The service acted as a community hub for various activities attended both by people living in the facility and people in the local community.

Rating at last inspection: Good; Published 2 September 2016

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection to check this service remained Good.

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

Sandy Mount is a purpose built 41-apartment complex, which allows tenants to live as independently as possible whilst providing flexible care and support to meet their needs. It has a number of communal facilities including a lounge, activity room, therapy suite, hairdressing salon, landscaped garden and a restaurant. This service is registered with the Care Quality Commission to carry out the regulated activity of personal care. At the time of the inspection 24 people were being supported with personal care.

There was a registered manager in post although they were absent at the time of our inspection. 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.

Staff had received training in how to keep people safe. All the staff we spoke with demonstrated they understood how to ensure people were safeguarded against abuse and they knew the procedure to follow in an emergency situation such as if a person had fallen.

Risks were managed at the service and there were systems and processes in place to ensure risks were minimised. The service operated a positive risk approach to promote people’s independence in their own home.

Staff completed the Care Certificate on taking up their post in addition to the registered providers own induction programme of classroom based learning.

Staff received regular training to ensure they developed skills and knowledge to perform in their role and regular supervision and appraisals to support their development.

Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. We found staff could confidently define the principles of the Act and were able to describe how they would support people lacking in capacity. They told us they would always assume capacity and just because a person made unwise decisions this did not mean they lacked capacity.

All the people living at Sandy Mount spoke highly about the kind and caring staff who ensured their privacy and dignity was maintained at all times. Staff encouraged people to remain independent and told us the vision of the service was to keep people independent.

People received care that met their needs, choices and preferences. The service could evidence people had been involved in the compilation of their support plans in line with what mattered to the person.

The service had a formal and informal complaints system. Overall responsibility for ensuring complaints were responded to with a satisfactory outcome rested with a Quality Manager who was alerted to the complaint through an electronic recording system.

Processes were in place for reflecting upon and evaluating the quality of the provision and these were being developed further as lessons were learnt from the registered providers extra care facilities.

There had been an investment into developing the quality of the service provided by the registered provider working in partnership with the local authority.

We found an open and transparent culture meant staff understood their roles and responsibilities.