Archived: Spencer House

Spencer House provides a supported living service. There are 15 flats for people with a learning disability. There were 15 people receiving the service on the day of our inspection.

A registered manager was in post. 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. The registered manager was supported by an assistant manager to ensure the daily management of the service.

The service provided good care and support to people enabling them to live fulfilled and meaningful lives. People were supported by skilled and well trained staff who ensured people were safe and encouraged them to achieve their full potential and live as independently as possible. The registered manager and staff understood and complied with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the associated Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).

People told us the service was a safe place to live and there were sufficient staff available to meet people’s individual needs. The provider had effective recruitment procedures in place to protect people from the risk of avoidable harm. Staff understood the risks and signs of potential abuse and the relevant safeguarding processes to follow. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were appropriately assessed, managed and reviewed. There were safe systems in place for receiving, administering and disposing of medicines and people received their medication as prescribed.

There was a strong emphasis on person centred care. Care plans were person centred and included people’s preferences and individual needs. Care plans were regularly reviewed and people were involved in the planning of their care. The service was flexible and responded to people’s changing needs.

People told us they were happy with the care and support they received; they were treated with dignity and respect and care was provided in a kind and caring way. People’s nutritional needs were met and people were supported to maintain a healthy and balanced diet. People received support to access health and social care professionals and services.

There was an effective system in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of the service provided. The registered manager was able to demonstrate how they measured and analysed the care and support provided to people, and how this ensured that the service was operating safely and was continually improving to meet people’s needs.

People told us that they felt safe. They said that the manager and the staff were very friendly, caring and kind. Staff interaction throughout our inspection visit was good. We found that staff had been given appropriate training to enable them to carry out their jobs in a safe and effective way.

The provider had good quality assurance processes. Regular audits of the service's systems and practices had taken place. People received safe, effective and compassionate care from a well-led service that responded quickly to their changing needs.

We spoke with three people who told us that the staff were "nice." One person told us that staff were respectful of their dignity and would obtain consent before assisting with any personal care task. Another told us that staff were aware of their needs.

We saw that people were made aware of the risk of abuse and supported to voice any issues or concerns that they had.

One person told us that they had involvement in selecting new staff. We saw that the provider had systems in place to ensure that staff recruited were suitable.