Archived: Phoenix House

Phoenix House is a residential care home for up to 15 people providing nursing and personal care to people living with mental health needs. At the time of inspection there were 11 people living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People received care from staff they knew. Staff had a good understanding of people's needs, choices and preferences. People were encouraged to make decisions about how their care was provided and their privacy and dignity were protected and promoted. Staff gained people's consent before providing personal care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were involved in the planning of their care which was person centred and updated regularly. People were supported to express themselves, their views were acknowledged and acted upon. There was a complaints system in place and people were confident that any complaints would be responded to appropriately.

Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to safeguard people from the risk of harm. People were supported to access relevant health and social care professionals.

People’s medicines were managed in a safe way. People’s risks were assessed at regular intervals or as their needs changed. Care plans informed staff how to provide care that mitigated these known risks.

Staff were recruited using safe recruitment practices. Staff received training to enable them to meet people’s needs and were supported to carry out their roles. Staff were happy working at Phoenix House and were proud of their relationships with the people they supported.

The management team continually monitored the quality of the service, identifying issues and making changes to improve the care and to help people to achieve their goals.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 19 May 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff were appropriately recruited and there were enough staff to provide care and support to meet people’s needs. People were consistently protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely.

The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and on-going professional development that they required to carry out their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.

People developed positive relationships with the staff who were caring and treated people with respect, kindness and courtesy. People had detailed personalised plans of care in place to enable staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences. People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and the provider had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they may receive.

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

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary is based on our observations during the inspection, speaking with people using the service, the staff supporting them and from looking at records.

Is the service safe?

The staff on duty had a good understanding of how to meet the needs of people who used the service. We saw that people were relaxed and comfortable in the presence of staff. All the people we spoke with told us that they felt safe living at the service and they were happy.

Staff received regular training and support which helped them to provide safe care. Staff training included the safeguarding of vulnerable adults procedures. Staff knew who they should contact, should they have any concerns about the treatment of people who used the service.

People and staff were involved in fire drill training so they knew what to do if there was a fire at the service. Health and safety checks were completed to make sure the premises were safe for people using the service.

Is the service effective?

People's health and care needs were assessed and plans of care were put in place to meet their needs. Information about how people communicated their needs and wishes were clearly identified in care plans. This ensured that new staff provided appropriate care. People told us that they were involved in making decisions in how they wanted their needs to be met. They told us they signed their care plans to consent to how their care and treatment needs were delivered. People told us that they were happy with the care they received. Staff had been provided with the information, training and support they needed to meet people's needs effectively.

Is the service caring?

We saw staff approached people who used the service in a caring and respectful manner. People's preferences, interests, and needs had been recorded and care and support had been provided accordingly.

People we spoke with told us that there were always staff available when they required their support. They told us that the staff were helpful, kind and supported them. One person told us that they had 1 to 1 sessions with staff and said, 'I have got a really good keyworker and she understands how I feel and I get on well with her'.

We saw staff interact with people in a kind, and good humoured way. They encouraged people to engage in activities and spoke to them in a dignified manner. The staff told us that they enjoyed working with the people and they worked well as a team. We saw in records of ?staff meetings that discussions took place about how to help the people living at the home achieve their goals. We also saw that staff supported people to maintain contact with families and friends.

Is the service responsive?

We saw that staff were available to support people who used the service. One person told us that they had meetings with their keyworkers and they listened and supported them to meet their needs. Another person told us that they had community meetings and discussed activities, menus and any issues that they were not happy with. They told us that the staff listened to them and acted on their feedback.

Is the service well-led?

We found that the service was well managed and systems were in place to identify and make improvements where necessary. Staff received regular training and support from management, which helped them to provide safe and effective care.

The provider had monitoring systems in place to ensure that medication administration records were fully completed. The views of people using the service, their representatives, health professionals and staff were sought to find out if the service was meeting the needs of people using the service. Staff training records and people's care plans were updated to meet their current needs. We saw that health and safety checks were also undertaken regularly to ensure all systems were kept up to date to keep people safe

People told us that they knew how to make a complaint to the provider or the acting manager if they were not happy with any of the services provided. They also told us that the information about how to make a complaint was displayed on the notice board. One person told us 'if I do not agree or like something I will tell staff'. They told us that all staff listened to their views and worked with them.