1 December 2017
During a routine inspection
There was a registered manager in post at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. 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.
Staff knew the signs of abuse and were confident to raise any concerns they had with the registered manager and provider. People and their representatives told us they were confident to raise any concerns they had with staff and that any concerns they had raised had been acted on. People had individual risk assessments so that staff had the information they needed to support them safely and minimise the identified risks.
People's medicines were being managed safely and administered by trained staff. Medicine administration records contained updated guidance to staff and were fully completed. Changes in people's health were identified quickly and staff supported people and their relatives to contact their health care professionals.
People spoke highly of the staff that provided their care and people’s relatives were also complimentary of staff. Staff we spoke with demonstrated they were aware of people’s individual needs and understood their preferences.
Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and protected them from harm. The service carried out pre-employment checks on staff before they worked with people to assess their suitability.
Staff received regular supervision to discuss their progress and training needs. Spot checks were completed by senior staff to monitor staff performance and ensure people were receiving support in line with their needs and expectations.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Staff understood the importance of gaining consent from people and acted in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The registered manager knew when assessments of people's capacity to make decisions were needed. Staff assumed people had capacity and respected the decisions they made.
People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect at all times. Staff were kind, caring and supported people if they became anxious. People who wished to were supported to develop their independence. Staff supported people to take part in leisure activities they liked.
People who used the service were provided with personalised care, which was based on their individual needs, wishes and goals. People were fully involved in the development of their care plans and felt their views and opinions about how their care was provided were encouraged. Care records were reviewed with people and they had been provided with sufficient information about the service. The service had had an effective system in place to manage complaints.
People received a service that was well led because the registered manager provided good leadership and management. Systems were in place to check on the standards within the service.
The registered manager had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of the service that people received. Quality assurance systems involved people who used the service.