Archived: Chalton Street

Updated 6 January 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 26 November 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team included one inspector and a specialist nurse advisor with experience of mental health services.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including people’s feedback and notifications of significant events affecting the service.

We spoke with five staff including the registered manager and the home manager. During the inspection we spoke with four people who used the service. We also gained feedback from health and social care professionals who were involved with the service as well as commissioners.

We reviewed four care records, three staff files as well as policies and procedures relating to the service. We observed interactions between staff and people using the service as we wanted to see if the way that staff communicated and supported people had a positive effect on their well-being.

Updated 6 January 2016

This unannounced inspection took place on 26 November 2015. Our previous inspection took place on 11 August 2014 when we found all of the regulations we inspected were met.

Chalton Street is a purpose built care home for up to nine adults with mental health needs. On the day of our inspection eight people were using the service.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our visit. 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.

We found that people were happy at the service and good, person centred care was being provided. The provider followed the values they had set out and the staff were kind. However, we found a number of areas for improvement but our judgement is that the service was able to address these matters themselves as they were overall a good service and able to take the appropriate action.

The registered manager and staff were aware of what constitutes abuse and the action they should take if such an incident occurred. They received regular safeguarding training and policies and procedures were in place for them to follow.

There was enough staff to support people safely and to meet their individual needs.

Assessments were undertaken to assess any risks to people using the service and steps were taken to minimise potential risks and to safeguard people from harm.

Safe recruitment procedures were in place that ensured staff were suitable to work with people as staff had undergone the required checks before starting to work at the service.

Staff completed an induction programme and mandatory training in areas such as safeguarding, fire safety and moving and handling.

Records showed that staff had received one to one supervision monthly unless they were on holiday or absent from work. There was also evidence of regular annual appraisals.

Three people at the home were subject to a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) authorisation to deprive them of their liberty to receive care and treatment. People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Staff showed dignity and respect as well as demonstrating an understanding of people’s individual needs. They had a good understanding of equality and diversity issues and care plans included information on how equality and diversity should be valued and upheld.

Staff knew how to support people to make a formal complaint and complaints were logged and dealt with effectively, demonstrating the outcome of the investigation and how learning was shared.

Audits and quality monitoring checks took place regularly. Quarterly audits of support plans, including risk assessments and reviews were undertaken to ensure the service was delivering a high quality, person centred service.