Background to this inspection
Updated
4 January 2019
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 comprehensive inspection took place on 11 December 2018 and was announced. We gave short notice because this is a short stay service and we needed to make sure people were currently using the service and staff would be available to speak with us. One inspector and an expert by experience by undertook this inspection. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. The expert by experience on this inspection had experience of learning disabilities services.
Prior to our inspection visit, we reviewed the information we held about the service. We reviewed statutory notifications sent to us from the provider. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The local authority told us they had no current concerns about the service.
We spent time with people and observing communal areas where people interacted with staff. This helped us judge whether people’s needs were appropriately met and to identify if people experienced good standards of care.
During the inspection we spoke with three people currently using the service. We spoke with four relatives of people who had recently used the service. We spoke with five care staff, the administrator and the provider’s chief executive officer. The registered manager was on planned leave during our inspection visit.
We reviewed four people’s care plans, daily records and medicine administration records. We reviewed feedback about the service that people and their relative had recently given following short stays. We also looked at the management records of the quality assurance audits the registered manager, chief executive officer and provider; Board of Trustees, made to assure themselves people received a safe, effective quality service.
Updated
4 January 2019
We inspected this service on 11 December 2018. The inspection was announced and carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience.
The service is a ‘care home’ operated by Polesworth Group Homes; a non-profit and independent provider of support for people with learning disabilities. The service, Pooley Heights, is one of eight services provided by Polesworth Group Homes Limited. The service provides short stay accommodation with personal care for up to six adults, at any one time, living with a learning disability. People in residential care homes receive accommodation and 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. The service was providing support to people on a short stay basis to offer people and their usual carers a break from their usual routine. At the time of our inspection visit, five people were on a short stay at the home.
The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.
There was a registered manager in post. 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.
At our last inspection in April 2016 we rated the service as Good. At this inspection, we found the quality of the care had been maintained and people continued to receive a service that was safe, caring, effective and responsive to their needs. The rating continues to be Good.
The provider adjusted staffing numbers to meet the needs of people using the service for a short stay; to ensure sufficient staff were on shift to meet their individual needs. Staff had the appropriate levels of skill, experience and support to meet people’s needs and provide effective care. Staff knew people well and how to keep them safe because risks had been assessed.
Staff knew what action to take in the event of an emergency. The provider checked staff’s suitability to deliver care and support during the recruitment process. Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risks of abuse. Staff had received ‘safeguarding’ training and knew how to raise concerns under the provider’s safeguarding policies. The registered manager and provider understood and followed their legal responsibilities when safeguarding concerns were identified to them.
At the beginning of each short stay, important information was updated about people so staff had the information they needed. People had individual plans of care and were able to take part in individual activities according to their preferences. Staff ensured people achieved positive outcomes during their short stay.
People were encouraged and supported to maintain good health through healthy eating. Staff supported people to access healthcare services, if needed, during their short stay. People received their prescribed medicines from trained staff. Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and worked within the principles of the Act. Managers understood their responsibilities under the Act and when ‘best interests’ meetings should take place.
Staff were compassionate, kind and caring toward the people they supported. People’s privacy and dignity was respected and staff took opportunities to promote people’s independence. People and relatives were complimentary about the service and had no complaints. Staff felt valued and supported by the provider and registered manager and were happy in their job role.
The registered manager and provider checked the quality of the service to make sure people’s needs were met safely and effectively. Feedback was encouraged from people and relatives. The registered manager and provider understood their regulatory responsibilities.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.