Stratford Road

Updated 7 November 2018

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 25 September and 3 October 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location was a small care home for younger adults who are often out during the day; we needed to be sure that someone would be in. One inspector carried out this inspection.

Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information

Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

Before the inspection, we looked at the evidence we already held about the service including notifications the provider had sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We contacted the local authority with responsibility for commissioning care from the service to seek their view about the service.

During the inspection we spoke with five staff which included the manager of the service, a registered manager from another of the provider’s services, the head of safeguarding and quality and two care workers. We also spoke with a visiting health professional and a relative. We observed care and support provided in communal areas. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk to us. We reviewed one person’s care record including risk assessments and care plans and reviewed two staff records including recruitment and supervision. We looked at records relating to how the service was managed including staff training, medicines, policies and procedures and quality assurance documentation.

Updated 7 November 2018

Stratford Road is a small care home for people with learning disabilities who may have mental health difficulties. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This inspection took place on 25 September and 3 October 2018. The inspection was announced. This was the first inspection since the service first registered in October 2017.

The service did not have a registered manager. There was a manager in post who had applied to become registered. 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 were knowledgeable about reporting safeguarding concerns and whistleblowing. People had risk assessments carried out to mitigate the risks of harm they may face at home and in the community. Building safety checks were carried out in line with building safety requirements. The provider carried out appropriate checks on new staff before new staff began to work in the service. There were enough staff on duty to keep people safe and to meet their needs. There were systems in place to record the administration of medicines and store medicines safely. However, there were no guidelines in place for a medicine for one person which was to be used only as needed. People were protected from the risks associated with the spread of infection. Accidents and incidents were recorded and were used to learn lessons and improve the service.

People’s needs were assessed before they began to use the service to make sure the right care could be provided. Staff were supported with training opportunities, supervisions and appraisals to enable them to carry out their role effectively. Communication systems were in place to keep staff and stakeholders updated on people’s wellbeing. People were supported to eat nutritional and cultural food and to maintain their health. Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the need to obtain consent before delivering care.

Staff explained how they developed caring relationships with people using the service. The provider had a ‘keyworking’ system in place where a named staff member had overall responsibility for ensuring all of a person’s needs were met. Relatives were consulted and involved in decisions about care. Staff were knowledgeable about equality and diversity. People’s privacy and dignity were promoted, and they were supported to maintain their independence.

Care plans were personalised and contained people’s preferences. Staff understood how to deliver personalised care. People were supported to achieve their personal goals and were able to participate in a range of activities. Staff supported people with their communication needs. The provider had a complaints procedure and an end of life care policy.

Relatives, stakeholders and staff spoke positively about the management of the service. The provider had a system to obtain feedback from people using the service and stakeholders. Staff had regular meetings to be updated on the wellbeing of people using the service, developments of the service and to make suggestions for improvement. The provider had quality assurance systems in place to identify areas of improvement. The service worked in partnership with other agencies to share examples of good practice and to improve the service provided.

We have made one recommendation about medicines management.