16 January 2014
During a routine inspection
At the time of this inspection there were seven people living at the home. Three people were out attending day care placements or visiting prospective new homes. We met and spoke with two people living Sharpe House. One person declined to speak with us and another person was unable to verbally communicate.
People told us that they were aware of their imminent move to new homes and that they had been involved in the decisions. One person told us they were 'excited but nervous'. During the inspection we saw staff were friendly, patient and reassuring, especially when people had repeated questions about the arrangements for moving to new homes. Staff told us it was their job to ensure 'that the next few weeks were as happy and comfortable as they could be' for people living at Sharpe House.
We found that there were sufficient staff on duty to ensure people's daily needs were met. However the service did not have a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection.
During the inspection we found areas for improvement. People did not always experience care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights. This was because the provider had not taken all appropriate steps to ensure that people had access to appropriate external health professionals.
We found the provider had not taken steps to provide care in an environment that was suitably designed and adequately maintained.