Archived: Tanglewood Mews (Autism Care UK)

Updated 30 March 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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 14 January 2015 and 9 February 2015 and was unannounced. This meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting. One Adult Social Care inspector and one expert by experience took part in this inspection. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before we visited Tanglewood Mews we checked the information we held about this location and the service provider, for example, inspection history, safeguarding notifications and complaints. No concerns had been raised. We also contacted professionals involved in caring for people who used the service, including commissioners and safeguarding staff and district nurses. No concerns were raised by any of these professionals.

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.

During our inspection we spoke with five people who used the service. The registered manager was on sick leave at the time of our visit so we spoke with the locality manager. We also spoke with five care workers.

We looked at the personal care and treatment records of three people who used the service and observed how people were being cared for. We also looked at the personnel files for three members of staff.

Updated 30 March 2015

This inspection took place on 14 January and 9 February 2015 and was unannounced. This meant the staff and provider did not know we would be visiting.

Tanglewood Mews provides care and accommodation for adults with a learning disability in residential and personal care to people living in the supported living settings. On the day of our inspection there were 18 people using the service, six people were in residential accommodation and 12 people were in supported living accommodation.

The home and supported living service had the same registered manager in place. 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.

Tanglewood Mews was last inspected by CQC on 15 August 2013 and was compliant.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty in order to meet the needs of people using the service. The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant checks when they employed staff.

We saw evidence that thorough investigations had been carried out in response to safeguarding incidents or allegations.

Medicines were securely stored and staff medication assessments took place.

Staff training was up to date however staff did not receive regular supervisions and appraisals, which meant that staff were not properly supported to provide care to people who used the service.

We did not find evidence of consent to care and treatment for people in the residential accommodation as none of the care records we looked at contained signed consent forms.

The home and supported living accommodation was clean, spacious and suitable for the people who used the service.

CQC monitors the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care homes. The Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) are part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They aim to make sure that people in care homes, hospitals and supported living are looked after in a way that does not inappropriately restrict their freedom. We discussed DoLS with the locality manager and looked at records. We found the provider was following the requirements in the DoLS.

We saw staff supporting and helping to maintain people’s independence. We saw staff treated people with dignity and respect and people were encouraged to care for themselves where possible.

We saw there was a full programme of activities in place for people who used the service.

People’s needs were regularly reviewed and we saw care plans were written in a person centred way.

We saw a copy of the provider’s complaints policy and saw that complaints were fully investigated.

The provider had a robust quality assurance system in place and gathered information about the quality of their service from a variety of sources.