Webb House provides accommodation for up to 20 people. There were 17 people living at the home at the time of the inspection. People living at Webb House had range of learning and physical disabilities including multiple sclerosis, stroke and acquired brain injuries following accidents. Some people had lived with learning and/or physical disabilities since birth and a number had lived in institutional care all of their adult lives. Most people required help and support from two members of staff in relation to their mobility and personal care needs.
Accommodation was provided over two floors with a passenger lift that provided level access to all parts of the home. The home was built on a slope which meant both floors had direct access outside. People spoke well of the home and visiting relatives confirmed they felt confident leaving their loved ones in the care of the staff at Webb House.
There is a registered manager at the home. 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 is also the registered manager for two further homes and spends her time at each location during the week. The deputy manager was responsible for the day to day running of the home and was present throughout the inspection.
This was an unannounced inspection which meant the provider and staff did not know we were coming. It took place on 16 and 17 December 2015.
People were looked after by staff who were kind and caring. They knew people really well and had a good understanding of people’s individual care and support needs. Staff supported people to make choices and respected their right to make decisions. People were supported by staff who treated them with dignity and demonstrated an interest in their welfare and views. However, care plans did not always reflect the support people needed or received. There was an audit system in place however this had not identified all the shortfalls we found in relation to people’s records.
There were risk assessments in place and staff had a good understanding of risks and what steps they should take to mitigate the risks. Although people were supported to maintain a healthy diet and were involved with the planning of menus there were no nutritional assessments to identify people who may be at risk of malnutrition.
There was a robust recruitment procedure in place which people were included people who lived at the home. They were involved in interviewing prospective staff which helped to ensure staff with the appropriate experience, skills and character were employed to work at the home. There were enough staff to meet people’s individual care needs however staff did not always have enough time to spend with people on a one to one basis. We saw the provider was currently recruiting volunteers to support people.
There was an open and relaxed atmosphere within the home, where people were encouraged to express their feelings, whilst respecting others. People told us that when they had a problem or were worried they were happy to talk with any of the staff. Whenever people had raised concerns or issues prompt action had been taken to address them.
Information was available for people throughout the home in a format that they could understand and was easily accessible. For example there was information about the risk of abuse and what people could do if they felt this had happened to them.
People were involved in the day to day running of the home through meetings and discussions about the food, refurbishment of the home and what they done each day. Some people represented others at regular provider meetings to discuss the development both of the home and the organisation. We saw people had been involved in developing the feedback surveys that were due to be sent out following our inspection.
We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.