Archived: Park House

Updated 16 December 2017

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 was 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 9 November 2017 and was unannounced. This meant the provider and staff did not know we were coming. The visit was undertaken by an adult social care inspector and an Expert by Experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the home, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales. We used information the provider sent us in the 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 contacted the local authority safeguarding and commissioning teams, the clinical commissioning group and Healthwatch, the local consumer champion for health and social care services. We used their comments to support the planning of the inspection.

During the visit we spoke with three staff including the registered manager, three people who used the service and prior to our visit we had feedback from one external professional who was a nurse and who had regular contact with the service.

We looked at a range of records including three people’s care and medicines records, four recruitment records and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 16 December 2017

The inspection took place on 9 November 2017 and was unannounced. This meant staff did not know we were visiting.

We last inspected the service on 5 and 7 July 2016 and rated the service as Requires Improvement. At that inspection we found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in relation to consent, maintaining the premises and governance of the service. The service sent an action plan to the Commission stating how they would meet outstanding regulations. At this inspection we found the service had met these breaches of regulation had improved to Good.

Park House is a seven bedded service that provides personal care and support to people with mental health issues and learning disabilities, and support to moderate or manage alcohol or substance misuse. Park House 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. At the time of our inspection there were five people using the service.

The service had a registered manager in place who had been registered since June 2017. 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.

We saw that people’s consent had been recorded, appropriate assessments of people’s capacity had been undertaken and staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act [MCA] and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards [DoLS].

Leadership at the service had improved and the new registered manager showed us the improvement in relation to records, staff supervision and training they had undertaken. Staff and people spoke positively of the support and changes by the registered manager.

Issues in relation to the environment highlighted at out last inspection had been addressed but décor in some areas of the home looked tired and scruffy.

We saw that people received their medicines at the correct times and people were supported to manage their own medicines following assessment. We saw medicines were stored safely and were usually administered by staff who were trained and competent. One person administered their own medicines following an assessment. We saw “as and when required” medicines were in place for some people and there were no accompanying protocol records to ensure staff were clear on when and why these medicines should be administered. We discussed this with the manager who stated they would seek guidance regarding these protocols and implement them without delay.

Staff and the management team understood their responsibilities with regard to safeguarding and had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults. People we spoke with told us they felt safe at the home.

Accidents and incidents had been appropriately recorded and monitored and risk assessments were in place for people who used the service and staff.

Care records showed that people’s needs were assessed before they started using the service and they were supported to transition to the service as smoothly as possible.

We found that safe recruitment and selection procedures were in place and appropriate checks had been undertaken before staff began work. This included obtaining references from previous employers to show staff employed were safe to work with vulnerable people.

Staff were suitably trained and training was arranged for any due refresher training. Staff received regular supervisions and appraisals and told us they felt supported.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported to make choices about what they had to eat and we saw these were respected. People’s likes, dislikes and preferences were reflected in their care plans.

We received good feedback about the caring and dedicated nature of the staff. People clearly felt very comfortable with staff members and there was a warm and positive atmosphere in the service and people were very relaxed. We saw people being treated with dignity and respect and people told us that staff were kind and professional.

People who used the service told us they were aware of how to make a complaint.

The service regularly used community services and facilities and had links with other local organisations. Staff told us they felt very supported by the registered manager and were comfortable raising any concerns. People who used the service and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service.

The service had a range of audits in place to check the quality and safety of the service and equipment at Park House and actions plans and lessons learnt were part of their on-going quality review of the service.