Homewood Care Home

Updated 11 October 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The 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.

We visited Homewood Care Home on 10 August 2017. The inspection was carried out by one inspector and the inspection was unannounced.

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 also checked other information that we held about the service and the service provider, including notifications we received from the service. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

Not all of the people living at Homewood were able to communicate verbally with us. We spent time observing how staff interacted with people to help us better understand their experiences of the care and support they received. We spoke with the registered manager of the home, the deputy manager and six members of the care staff team. We also contacted the relatives of three people and six local community health and social care professionals who had contact with the service.

We looked at a range of documents and written records including five people’s care records, staff recruitment files and training records, risk assessments and medicines charts. We also looked at information regarding the arrangements for managing complaints and monitoring the quality of the service provided within the home.

The home was last inspected on 26 July 2016 when one breach of the regulations in relation to notifying us of events was identified. The provider had sent us an action plan and at this inspection we saw that the improvements had been made.

Updated 11 October 2017

Homewood Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 8 people living with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. People may also have physical disabilities. The home is specially converted to meet the needs of people living there. We inspected the home on 10 August 2017. The inspection was unannounced. There were seven people living in the home at the time of our inspection.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with 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.

There was a friendly atmosphere in the home and staff supported people in a kind and caring way that took account of their individual needs and preferences.

Staff understood how to identify, report and manage any concerns related to people’s safety and welfare. There were systems and processes in place to protect people from harm, while promoting their independence.

Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks had been undertaken, which made sure only suitable staff were employed to care for people in the home. Agency staff were being used to maintain sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s current needs.

There were suitable systems in place to ensure the safe storage and administration of medicines. Medicines were administered by staff who had received appropriate training and competency assessments.

People were supported by staff who had received an induction into the home and appropriate training, professional development and supervision to enable them to meet people’s individual needs.

Staff followed legislation designed to protect people’s rights and ensure decisions were the least restrictive and made in their best interests.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to meet their needs and to make informed choices about what they ate.

People and their relatives or representatives were involved in planning the care and support provided by the service. Staff listened to people and understood and respected their needs and wishes.

The service was responsive to people’s needs and there were systems in place to help ensure any concerns or complaints were responded to appropriately. Healthcare professionals were involved in people’s care when necessary.

The provider and the registered manager were promoting an open and inclusive culture and continued to look for ways to improve the service. There was a range of systems in place to assess and monitor the quality and safety of the service and to help ensure people were receiving appropriate support.