The Care Quality Commission
  • Care Home
  • Care home

Archived: Penlea

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

13 Dunheved Road, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 9JE

Provided and run by:
Royal Mencap Society

All Inspections

28 and 31 July 2015

During a routine inspection

The inspection took place on 28 and 31 July 2015 and was unannounced. This service was also inspected on 18 December 2014 but, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were unable to complete a report for that inspection.

Penlea is part of the Royal Mencap Society and provides care and accommodation for up to 7 people. On the day of the inspection 6 people lived within the home. Penlea provides care for people who have a learning disability and may also have physical disabilities.

The service had 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. The registered manager was not available during the inspection. In their absence, the manager of the service supported us with our inspection throughout the two days.

During the inspection people and staff were relaxed, the environment was clean and clutter free. There was a calm and pleasant atmosphere. People told us and we saw, they had the freedom to move around freely as they chose and enjoyed living in the home.

Care records were focused on giving people control. Staff responded quickly to people’s change in needs. People and those who matter to them were involved in identifying their needs and how they would like to be supported. People’s preferences were sought and respected. People’s life histories, disabilities and abilities were taken into account, communicated and recorded, so staff provided consistent personalised care, treatment and support.

People’s risks were managed well and monitored. There was a culture of learning from mistakes. Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and analysed. There were effective quality assurance systems in place. Action had been taken promptly to address any areas of concern identified, and changes had been made.

People were promoted to live full and active lives and were supported to access the community. Activities were meaningful and reflected people’s interests and individual hobbies. One staff member commented, “One of the best things about Penlea is the amount of activities people get to do”. People told us they enjoyed the variety of activities the service enabled them to take part in.

People had their medicines managed safely. People received their medicines as prescribed, received them on time and understood what they were for. People were supported to maintain good health through regular access to health and social care professionals, such as GPs, social workers and speech and language therapists.

People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet. Dietary and nutritional specialist advice was sought so that people with complex needs with regards to their eating and drinking, were supported effectively.

People and staff were encouraged to be involved and help drive continuous improvements. This helped ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

People knew how to raise concerns and make complaints. People told us concerns raised had been dealt with promptly and satisfactorily. The service had received no written or verbal complaints.

People told us they felt safe. Advice was sought to help safeguard people and respect their human rights. All staff had undertaken training on safeguarding adults from abuse, they displayed good knowledge on how to report any concerns and described what action they would take to protect people against harm. Staff told us they felt confident any incidents or allegations would be fully investigated.

Staff understood and had a good working knowledge of the key requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff put this into practice effectively to help ensure people had their legal rights respected.

Staff received a comprehensive induction programme, which incorporated the new care certificate. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. Staff were appropriately trained and had the correct skills to carry out their roles effectively. One staff member said: “The training here is spot on, I was more than ready to start following my induction”. The service followed safe recruitment practices to help ensure staff were suitable to carry out their role.

Staff described the manager to be very open, supportive and approachable. Staff talked positively about their jobs. Comments included, “I love my job”, “I am really well supported” and “I am passionate about caring, I do this job because I love it, not for the money but because I genuinely care about the people”.

5 November 2013

During a routine inspection

During the inspection we were able to meet three of the people who used the service. The four other people who used the service were out doing planned activities during our visit. Of the three people we met one was able to talk to us in detail about living at Penlea. They said 'I like to go swimming and horse riding, and I watch Rugby with my friends at Penlea' and 'I attend my reviews and am able to talk to my keyworker and tell people about the things I want to do'

The support plans we looked at provided staff with clear and up to date information about people's needs and how they should be met. The staff we spoke to had a good understanding of this information and were able to tell us in detail about how people who used the service needed and preferred to be supported.

We saw from records and discussion that people's rights and ability to consent was considered when planning and providing care and support. The service also followed the correct procedures to protect people's rights when they were unable to consent to decisions being made about them.

We found that the environment was clean, tidy and generally well maintained throughout.

All the staff we spoke to said that they felt well supported by their colleagues and management.

People using the service had their views listened to and acted on and were provided with clear information if they wished to make a complaint.

30 September 2012

During a routine inspection

During our visit we spoke with five of the six people who lived in the home. There were six staff members employed at the time of our visit. We spoke with two of them during our visit and the manager on the telephone afterwards.

We looked around the home and found that it was clean and hygienic. We examined the care files belonging to three people who lived in the home and found that they were up to date and reviewed as people's needs/wishes changed.

People told us that they were happy living in the home and talked to us about their personal routines and the activities they enjoyed. We found that people were involved and supported to make decisions about their care and support needs and their needs were well met by the staff team. Comments from people who lived in the home included 'they have nice staff here' and 'everything's all right'. People saw healthcare professionals on a regular basis or when they needed them.

Staff were friendly and respected people's rights to privacy, dignity, and independence. There were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs and additional staff were available when required. Staff said they had received sufficient training to enable them to carry out their roles competently.

There were effective systems for safeguarding people from abuse. Legal safeguards, which protect people unable to make decisions about their own welfare, were understood by staff and used to protect people's rights.