Archived: Bridgewater House

Updated 8 November 2016

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 18 October 2016 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.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

We reviewed information we held about the service. We looked at our own system to see if we had received any concerns or compliments about the provider. We analysed information on statutory notifications we had received from the provider. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

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.

We asked the local authority and Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. We used this information as part of our planning.

We spoke with three people, the deputy manager, two staff members and the locality manager. We looked at care and support plans for two people including individual assessments of risk and medicine administration records. We looked at records of incident and accidents, compliments and complaints and the recruitment records of two staff members.

Updated 8 November 2016

This inspection took place on 18 October 2016 and was announced.

Bridgewater House provides personal care for up to nine people with learning and physical disabilities. At this inspection they were providing care and support for nine people.

A registered manager was in post but owing to pre-arranged annual leave was not present at this inspection. 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. The registered manager was supported day to day by a deputy manager who was present at this inspection.

People were safe as staff had been trained and understood how to support people in a way that protected them from danger, harm and abuse. People had individual assessments of risk associated with their care. Staff knew what to do in order to minimise the potential for harm.

People were supported by enough staff to safely meet their needs. People received help with their medicines from staff who were trained and assessed as competent to support them safely. The provider followed safe recruitment practices and completed checks on staff before they were allowed to start work.

The provider had systems in place to address any unsafe staff practice including retraining and disciplinary processes if needed.

Staff members had the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of those they supported. Staff attended training that was relevant to the people they supported and any additional training needed to meet people’s specific requirements was provided.

Staff members were aware of the guidance and legislation that governed their practice. People were supported in a way that maintained their individual rights. People were involved in decisions about their care and were given information they needed in a way they understood. When people were not able to make decisions themselves staff members knew what to do to ensure any decisions made were in their best interests.

People had positive and caring relationships with staff members who supported them. People’s likes and dislikes were known by staff who assisted them in a way which was personal to them.

People had their privacy and dignity respected by staff members. People had access to healthcare when needed and staff responded to any changes in needs promptly and consistently. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to maintain good health.

Staff were supported by a management team who they found approachable. The provider undertook regular quality checks in order to drive improvements. People were involved in their home and felt their opinions mattered to the provider. Any suggestions people made were valued. The provider had systems in place to respond to the suggestions of others.