Archived: Sandford Road

Updated 13 May 2017

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 29 March 2017 and was unannounced. The inspection was undertaken by two inspectors.

We asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This was received within the necessary timescale.

Providers are required to notify the Care Quality Commission about specific events and incidents that occur including serious injuries to people receiving care and any safeguarding matters. We refer to these as notifications. We reviewed the notifications the provider had sent us and in addition considered feedback provided to us by commissioners of the service and Health watch. We used all of this information to plan what areas to focus on during our inspection visit.

During our inspection visit, we spoke with the registered manager, four members of the staff team and saw feedback from the relative of one person. We also spoke with one relative during our inspection. Many people living at the home were not able to speak with us due to their specific support needs and conditions. We spoke with one person. We observed how staff interacted with everyone living at the home and we also used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We sampled two people’s care plans and records relating to staffing, complaints, medication and quality monitoring information. After the visit, we spoke with three health and social care professionals on the telephone.

Updated 13 May 2017

We inspected this home on 29 March 2017. The home was registered with CQC in April 2016 and this was its first inspection. The home is registered to provide personal care and accommodation for up to six people. At the time of our inspection, four people were living at the home. We observed how care was provided to people and whether people were happy living at the home.

There was a registered manager in post who was present throughout 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 and their relatives told us that they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff were aware of the need to keep people safe and understood their responsibilities to report allegations or suspicions of poor practice. Assessments had been undertaken to identify any potential risks to people and guidance was available for staff to follow to minimise those risks. People were supported by staff who had been safely recruited. People’s medicines were given as prescribed and stored safely.

People were supported by staff who were provided with induction and training to keep their knowledge and skills current. Staff’s knowledge and understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards ensured that people’s rights were protected. People were provided with a good choice of food and were supported to access the support of relevant healthcare professionals when needed.

People were cared for by staff who knew them well and who they described as kind and compassionate. People expressed how they wanted their care to be delivered and we saw that this was fulfilled. People’s decisions and choices were respected by staff. We saw that people were treated with dignity and had their privacy respected.

People and their relatives had been involved in developing and reviewing their care plans. People were supported to participate in a variety of social activities in line with their interests. We saw that people could raise concerns and complaints and staff were confident that these would be investigated and acted upon.

People and social care professionals described the home as well-led and felt confident in the registered manager. People told us that they were asked for their views about the care and support they received on a day to day basis. There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided. These systems were not consistently effective.