The Drive

Updated 30 November 2017

We carried out this comprehensive 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 unannounced inspection took place on 24 October 2017 and was undertaken by one inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service which included any statutory notifications the provider had sent to the Commission. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. The provider had also completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) which we reviewed. 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. We also contacted a local authority responsible for commissioning the service to obtain their views. We used this information to help inform our inspection planning.

During this inspection we spent time observing the way in which staff supported people. We spoke with three people, three relatives and a visiting healthcare professional to gather their views about the service. We also spoke with the provider, registered manager, the provider’s head of care and three staff.

We reviewed records, including three people’s support plans, four staff recruitment records, staff training and supervision records, and other records relating to the management of the service including Medicine Administration Records (MARs), audits and the provider's policies and procedures.

Updated 30 November 2017

This inspection took place on 24 October 2017 and was unannounced. The Drive is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing, or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The Drive accommodates up to 12 people with learning and physical disabilities in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people living at the home.

The home had a registered manager in place. 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 comprehensive inspection of the service in September 2016 we found a breach of regulations because medicines were not safely managed. We also found improvement was required to ensure the service complied fully with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), and the provider’s quality assurance systems were not consistently effective in identifying issues or driving improvements.

Following the inspection the provider wrote to us to tell us the action they had taken to address the issues we had identified in respect of medicines management. We conducted a focused inspection of the service in February 2017 to check that they had followed their action plan and found that medicines were safely managed at the service, and they were meeting legal requirements.

At this inspection we found the registered manager and provider had made improvements to the service’s quality assurance systems, and action had been taken to address any issues identified through the checks and audits conducted by staff. Improvements had also been made to ensure staff followed the requirements of the MCA where people lacked capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Risks to people had been assessed and plans put in place to manage identified risks safely. Staff were aware of people’s risk assessments and the action to take to support them in safely. There were sufficient staff deployed at the service to meet people’s needs and the provider followed safe recruitment practices when employing new staff.

Medicines were stored securely, and administered and recorded appropriately. People were protected from the risk of abuse because staff were aware of the types of abuse and knew the action to take if they suspected abuse had occurred. The provider had also sought to ensure people were only deprived of their liberty in line with the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), where this was in their best interests.

Staff received an induction when they started work at the service and were supported in their roles through regular supervision and training. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet and to access a range of healthcare services when needed. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. People told us that staff treated them kindly and we observed caring interactions between staff and the people living at the service.

People were involved in decisions about their care and treatment. They had support plans in place which had been developed based on an assessment of their individual needs and which reflected their preferences. Where appropriate, relatives told us they had been consulted in the development of people’s support plans. People were also supported to take part in a range of activities in support of their interests.

The provider had a complaints policy and procedure in place which gave guidance to people on how to raise concerns. People and relatives knew how to make a complaint and expressed confidence that any issues they raised would be addressed.

People spoke positively about the registered manager and the management of the service and relatives told us they thought there had been improvements at the service since the registered manager had taken on the management of the home. Staff told us the registered manager was supportive and available to them when needed.

People and relatives were able to share their views about the service through an annual survey and during regular residents meetings, as well as through informal discussions with the management team. We saw examples where the provider and registered manager had taken action in response to feedback in order to drive service improvements.