Woodhouse Hall

Woodhouse Hall is a care home registered to provide accommodation and support for up to 19 people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people who may have mental health needs. There were 18 people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

People were respected and valued as individuals. People were supported to engage in activities and to learn new skills. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care

Most risks to people's care were assessed and actions put in place to manage them. We found some issues with the safety and maintenance of the premises. The manager took immediate action to address the issues and reduce risks for people. Overall, medicines were administered safely but some specific areas needed improvement. The management team were aware of their safeguarding responsibilities; appropriate referrals had been made when required. Incidents and accidents were managed in a way that ensured lessons were learnt to prevent reoccurrence.

Right culture

Quality assurance systems were in place and happening regularly, however these had not always been effective in identifying or addressing in a timely way the issues found at this inspection. We have made a recommendation in relation to ensuring quality assurance processes are effective. People were treated with dignity and respect. The management team were knowledgeable and passionate about delivering quality care centred around people's needs and preferences.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published on 25 October 2017).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

We found the following examples of good practice.

Risks in relation to visitors had been assessed and action taken to ensure the service followed national guidance. Regular Infection prevention control (IPC) audits were undertaken. The home's infection prevention and control policy were up to date and in line with current guidance.

Staff had access to supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and had received training to ensure they used this correctly. All staff had regular testing for COVID-19, and all had received their vaccinations.

Staff were trained on how to keep people safe from the risk of infection.

Woodhouse hall is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 19 people who have a learning disability and or autism spectrum disorder related conditions. The service is divided into two units and is located in the East Ardsley area of Leeds with good access to transport and local amenities.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of the 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.

People told us they felt safe living in the home, and staff were aware of their responsibilities to protect people’s health and wellbeing. The property was secure and appropriately decorated, with all relevant maintenance documents and certificates in place.

There were enough staff to deliver care safely, and staff were recruited appropriately. Staff received good support through induction, training and continuous supervision and appraisal. Staff knew how to deal with challenging behaviours appropriately and demonstrated good knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2010. All incidents were recorded and investigated as required.

People were supported to access healthcare professionals appropriately and this was clearly documented in people’s care records. People were supported with their nutrition and hydration needs and were encouraged to get involved with food preparation.

People were cared for by kind and attentive staff who clearly understood how to communicate with people, and knew and understood their individual needs.

The service promoted people’s independence and respected their choices. Staff were trained to recognise and protect people’s rights under the Equality Act 2010.

Care plans were written in a person centred way which meant that their care was delivered in accordance with their preferences, interests and diverse needs. People and their relatives were encouraged to get involved with care, and people were supported to maintain relationships with those who mattered to them.

The service had recently appointed a registered manager to the service. Staff told us there was a positive working culture with strong leadership from senior staff. All staff we spoke with recommended the service as a place to work.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place to continually review and improve the service, including medicines administration, incidents, safeguarding concerns and daily notes.

Woodhouse Hall is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 19 people who have a learning disability. The service is divided into three units. The service had a manager who was registered as the manager soon after the 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.

People felt safe. The provider had improved and continued to develop systems to help keep people safe, which included protecting them from abuse. Better plans to support people when they displayed behaviours that challenged were being introduced. There were enough staff to keep people safe. A lot of new staff had started working at the service which sometimes resulted in a high percentage of inexperienced staff working on shift. Recruitment checks were carried out before staff started working at the service although this did not always include a full employment history. The management team were going to do a full audit of staff files to make sure this information had been provided. Appropriate systems were in place to manage medicines.

Staff were trained and supported to do their job well. The provider continued to improve arrangements for supervising staff. People received a more varied and nutritious diet; menus were being further developed. A range of other professionals were involved to help make sure people stayed healthy. People made their own decisions as far as possible and were helped to do so when needed.

People’s care records were personalised and provided information so staff understood what was important to them. Staff knew the people they were supporting and how to meet their individual needs. During the inspection we observed staff were caring but there were occasions when some staff showed a lack of interest in the people they were supporting.

The care and support planning system had improved although this was being further developed to make sure people’s needs were identified and staff had clear guidance around supporting people. The support plan files were being audited and areas that required changes were identified. Arrangements for reviewing care with people were inconsistent. Each person had an activity record that showed they had engaged in a variety of activities.

We received very positive feedback about the service manager and were told they were making definite improvements to the service. The management team at Woodhouse Hall were supported by senior managers and everyone was working through agreed actions to make sure all necessary improvements were made. It was evident from reviewing documentation and discussions that following the inspection in December 2015 initial progress had been slow. People who used the service attended ‘Your Voice’ meetings where they were given opportunity to talk about the service although these were not held on a regular basis.

People's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. We looked at three care records and saw that records recorded information on people's daily routine. They described what time people liked to get up, what they liked to eat and drink and how they liked to spend their day.

All of the staff we spoke with during our visit were familiar with safeguarding procedures and had experience of abuse being carried out. One staff member said 'We had an incident where one person made a gesture to another person which resulted in them hitting that person'. The staff member said that this incident had been reported to the manager who had then informed the local safeguarding team and CQC.

We looked at the training files of staff which showed that staff were up to date and had received training in areas such as infection control, health and safety, moving and handling, safeguarding and managing violence. All of the staff we spoke to were either trained to NVQ level 2 or 3 or were undergoing the training. They were given time to do this.

We asked how the provider monitored the quality of care they delivered. We were told that the home carried out monthly monitoring and were shown documentation of audits being carried out on internal quality monitoring. This covered areas such as; staff communication and involvement with service users, respect for privacy and dignity and respect for quality and diversity. Audits were also carried out on; records, documentation and quality of the environment.

We spoke with two people who used the service, one family member and an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) to help us understand the views of the people who used the service.

One person we spoke with told us; 'The staff are good.' Another person said; 'The staff are alright.'

People told us there were things to do. One person commented; 'I like to bake cakes.' Another person said they 'went out to museums but I can't always do what I want.' This person told us; 'I have key worker meetings and can discuss things.'

The relative spoken with said; 'There are some good staff. I have seen vast improvements in my relative over the last five to six months.' They also confirmed that other health care professionals were involved in their relative's care.

We found that the staff we spoke with understood the needs of the people they cared for. Staff were clear on how they would respond if abuse was suspected or happening.