Archived: Riverview House

Updated 22 January 2015

We carried out this 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 November 2014 and was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we looked at all of the information that we had about the home. This included information from notifications received by us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. We also reviewed the provider information return. This is information that the provider is required to send to us to which gives us some key information about the service. What the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We also made contact with a local authority contract monitoring officer and a health care professional.

During the inspection we spoke with six people who live at Riverview House and a relative. We also spoke with four members of staff and the registered manager. We looked at three people’s care records and reviewed records in relation to the management of the service such as audits and policies and staff records. We also observed activities taking place throughout the home and how staff supported people.

Due to the complex communication needs of some of the people living at the care home, we carried out a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experiences of people who could not talk to us.

Updated 22 January 2015

Riverview House is a registered care home which provides support and non-nursing care for up to 14 adults who have a learning disability. People live in two separate houses which are located in a residential suburb of the city of Peterborough. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people living at the home.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 inspection was unannounced and was carried out on 24 November 2014 by one inspector. The last inspection was carried out on 29 July 2013 when we found the provider was meeting all the requirements.

During this inspection of 24 November 2014 we found that people were kept safe because they were looked after by enough staff to support them with their individual needs, which included going out and about in the community. Pre-employment checks were completed on staff before they were judged to be suitable to work at the care home. People were satisfied with how they were supported to be kept safe and were also happy with how they were given their medication.

People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts of food and drink. They were also supported to access a range of health care services and their individual communication needs were understood and were met.

People’s rights in making decisions and suggestions in relation to their support and care were valued and acted on. However, improvements were needed to ensure that people were supported with making decisions, which included those in relation to the management of their health and personal finances. People took part in a range of work and recreational pastimes and were supported by staff who were trained and supported to do their job.

The CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) which applies to care services. We found that some of the people’s rights may not necessarily have been protected and improvements in relation to this should be made.

People were treated well by kind, respectful and attentive staff. People and their relatives were involved in the review of people’s individual care plans.

Support and care was provided based on people’s individual needs and they were supported to maintain contact with their relatives and the local community. There was an informal process so that people’s concerns and complaints were listened to and these were acted upon.

A registered manager was in post and the care home was well-led. Staff enjoyed their work and were supported and managed to look after people in a caring and safe way. People and their relatives were able to make suggestions on an informal, day-to-day basis and actions were taken as a result. Quality monitoring procedures were in place and action had been taken where improvements were identified.