Archived: Chapel Lane

During this visit we viewed a sample of staff rotas, met with the manager and a member of staff. We also spoke with three people who use the service. We found that there were improvements in the numbers of staff working in the home. The manager was now on the staff rota and was working more day to day in the house. The manager had also arranged for some shifts to be covered by regular agency staff and two staff worked on shift when there were specific outings arranged such as sunday visits to the Salvation Army. Staff said staffing levels had been affected as another permanent experienced member of staff had been off work since September but that overall the situation had improved and people who lived in the home were happier. Staff also confirmed that people were going out more and had more one to one support.

Before people received any care or support they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. Staff told us they supported people to make daily decisions about their lives. The relatives and advocate we spoke with also confirmed that staff offered daily choices to people and encouraged them to carry out tasks, where possible, for themselves.

People's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. The two care records viewed provided staff with a good picture of each person, their needs and how these were to be met. Appointments were recorded, along with the outcome, if people saw a healthcare professional. This ensured that staff could monitor people's health needs and respond accordingly if they changed.

The home had polices and training for staff in place to protect people from abuse.

There were systems in place to review the quality of the service. Various audits took place in order to monitor the running of the home and any issues identified were recorded so they could be addressed. The staff team obtained the views of people in different ways. We saw that house meetings took place on a regular basis where people could hear news about the home and share their views. Staff told us that there had been individual meetings held recently to re-assess people’s needs and to gain their views and their representatives regarding the possible changes to the home.

There were not always enough staff working each shift to meet people's needs. We viewed the rota and saw that at weekends and occasionally in the week there was one member of staff working on a shift. The six people living in the home could not go out without a member of staff and one person used a wheelchair when they went out in the community. The registered manager was not on the rota and not based in the home. Another manager usually worked as few hours a week in the home to provide support and assistance to people and the staff team.

One person confirmed they liked living in the home and the staff listened to them. There was a complaints procedure in place where people and/or their representatives could make a complaint and these would be listened to and acted on.

One person told us they kept busy in the week and liked going out and seeing other people. We observed positive interactions between people and staff and staff took time to ask people if they were happy. Staff were active in identifying other activities such as keep fit and college courses. Several staff had worked in the home for many years and had known some of the people living in the home for a long time. This meant that people could be confident that their needs would be understood and met.

We found information about people's needs were detailed and up to date and this assisted staff in supporting people safely and effectively. There were good medication processes and checks in place which kept people safe and staff received support and training in order to carry out their roles and responsibilities.