Weston Favell Houses

Updated 12 October 2017

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 the 29 and 30 August and 6 September 2017 and was carried out by one inspector. The first day of the inspection was unannounced; we carried out an announced visit on the second day and spoke to a relative of a person who lives at the service on the 6 September.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return [PIR]. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report.

We reviewed information we held about the provider including, for example, statutory notifications that they had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We contacted the health and social care commissioners who help place and monitor the care of people living in the home as well as 'Healthwatch' in Northamptonshire. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion for people who use health and social care services.

During our inspection we spoke with one person who lived at the service, one relative on the telephone and eleven members of staff including support staff, therapy staff, nursing staff, the registered manager and members of the senior management team.

We looked at care and medicines records relating to three people and three staff recruitment records. We looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, training information for care staff, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 12 October 2017

This inspection took place on the 29 and 30 August and 6 September 2017. The first day of the inspection was unannounced; we carried out an announced visit on the second day and completed the inspection with telephone calls to relatives of people who live at the service on the 6 September.

The service is registered to provide accommodation for up to three people who require nursing or personal care. It is made up of two houses and is part of a small group of community houses providing rehabilitation, therapy and support for people with acquired brain injuries. At the time of our inspection there were three people living at the location.

At the last inspection, in July 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found that the service continued to be rated as Good.

There was a registered manager in post when we inspected. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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’s needs continued to be safely met. People’s needs were assessed prior to moving in to the home and people’s care plans reflected their individual needs and preferences in relation to the support provided. Assessments were in place and appropriately acted upon to promote positive risk taking and effectively manage risks to people’s health and welfare. Staff had received training to provide them with the skills and knowledge they needed to provide people with safe care. There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs in a timely way.

Staff recruitment processes protected people from being cared for by unsuitable staff and all new staff completed a thorough induction training programme. Staff understood the importance of protecting people from abuse and avoidable harm. They knew what action they needed to take to report any concerns about people’s safety or well-being.

People’s support was provided by a staff team that were caring, friendly, and responsive to people’s changing needs. People were treated with dignity and their right to make choices about how they preferred their support to be provided was respected.

People were supported to eat a healthy diet and to have prompt access to health services to improve their health and well-being. Staff followed the advice of healthcare professionals in meeting people’s needs. Staff ensured that people who required support to manage their medicines received their medicines as prescribed.

The service had a positive ethos and an open culture. The registered manager was a visible role model in the home. People, their relatives and staff told us that they had confidence in the manager’s ability to provide high quality managerial oversight and leadership to the home.

People’s views about the quality of their service were sought and acted upon. There were systems in place to assess and monitor the on-going quality of the service.