About the service Spion Kop is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to a maximum of six people who have mental health needs. Six people lived at Spion Kop at the time of the inspection. Accommodation was provided in one adapted building. Three bedrooms were ensuite, shared communal facilities included the lounge, dining room, kitchen and bathroom.
There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received safe care and treatment. There were effective systems in place to assess, monitor and record risk associated with people’s individual needs and staff encouraged people to lead independent lives. The environment was safe, clean and well maintained. Medicines were managed in a safe and person-centred way. Staff demonstrated good understanding of safeguarding people from abuse and avoidable harm.
People had access to a wide range of health care professionals. 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 did not consistently support this practice however, during the inspection the registered manager evidenced how they intended to improve the way people’s mental capacity was assessed.
Staff understood the importance of mental health recovery and people were supported to develop life skills including shopping, cooking and housework. Staff received training and support. People’s end of life preferences and decisions were discussed and recorded.
People told us staff were kind and respectful. Staff engaged with people in a caring way and had built trusting relationships. People were encouraged to be involved in decisions about the way the service was led. Monthly house meetings were held and minuted.
People were involved in the development of their care plans. Staff told us they were trained and supported to understand the importance of mental health recovery and knew how to encourage people to access the local community, engage in work projects and education.
Staff told us the registered manager was supportive and approachable. There was an open and transparent culture. The registered manager understood people’s needs and preferences. There were effective quality assurance processes which showed the manager was aware of their role and responsibilities. People had access to the complaints procedure and told us they felt confident to raise any concerns.
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 24/01/2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.