Archived: Crofters Close

Updated 27 August 2016

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 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 inspection took place on 30 June 2016 by two inspectors and was unannounced.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form the provider completes to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made the judgements in this report.

We looked at the information we held about the provider and the service. This included information received from the statutory notifications the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. We also sought information from Healthwatch who are who are an independent consumer champion who promote the views and experiences of people who use health and social care. We used this information to help us plan this inspection.

We met with all five people who lived at the home and saw the care and support offered to people at different times. We spoke with four relatives, the manager, regional manager and three staff members. We looked at the care records of three people, the medicine management arrangements and at records about staffing, complaints, compliments and the quality checks of the service.

Updated 27 August 2016

This inspection took place on 30 June 2016 and was unannounced.

The provider of Crofters Close is registered to provide accommodation with personal care for up to six people with learning disabilities. At the time of this inspection five people lived at the home.

As part of its conditions of registration, this provider is required to have a registered manager. 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 home is run. There was no registered manager in place as they had left the providers employment two weeks prior to this inspection but there was a manager managing the home in the interim period pending recruitment.

People were supported by staff who knew how to recognise and report any concerns to promote people's safety. There were sufficient staff on duty to respond to people's individual needs at the times they needed support. People were helped to take their medicines by staff who knew how to manage these in line with safe principles of practice.

Staff were appropriately recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with people who lived at the home. They had received training and support to deliver a good quality of care to people and an active training programme was in place to address identified training needs.

Staff respected people's rights to make their own decisions and choices about their care and treatment. People's permission was sought by staff before they helped them with anything. Staff made sure people understood what was being said to them by using a range of communication methods. These included gestures, short phrases or words. When people did not have the capacity to make their own specific decisions these were made in their best interests by people who knew them well and were authorised to do this.

Staff met people's care and support needs in the least restrictive way. Where it was felt people received care and support to keep them safe and well which may be restricting their liberty the required applications had been made. These actions made sure people's liberty was not being unlawfully restricted.

Staff had been supported to assist people in the right way which included helping people to eat and drink enough to stay healthy and well. People had been assessed for any risks associated with eating and drinking and care plans had been created for those people who were identified as being at risk. People were supported to access health and social care services to maintain and promote their health and well-being.

Staff cared for people in a kind, warm and friendly way. Staff promoted what people could do and supported people with dignity when they needed assistance. People's right to private space and time to be alone and with their relatives was accepted and respected.

Staff delivered the care that had been planned to meet people’s needs and had a high degree of knowledge about their individual choices, decisions and preferences. Staff offered people the opportunity to do things for fun and interest. There were good arrangements in place for receiving and resolving complaints which took into account people's individual needs.

The views of people who lived at the home, relatives and staff were sought using different ways to develop the service and quality checks focused upon continuous improvement. The leadership promoted an open culture which put people at the heart of the service.