Archived: Patricia House

Updated 20 February 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 21 January and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours notice because the location is a small care home for younger adults who are often out during the daytime. We needed to be sure that someone would be in. The visit was carried out by one inspector.

As part of our inspection we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR 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. Our inspection visit reflected the information contained within the PIR.

Before the inspection we spoke to the local authority commissioning team and asked if they had any information about the service. They made us aware they had last visited in August 2015. They observed positive interactions between the staff and the people who lived at the home. However, they found that not all staff had received training in safeguarding and requested the training be provided. This training has since been undertaken.

We reviewed the information we held about the service and the statutory notifications that the manager had sent to us. A statutory notification is information about an important event which the provider is required to send us by law. These may be any changes which relate to the service and can include safeguarding referrals, notifications of deaths and serious injuries.

During the inspection we spoke to four people who lived at the home and one person’s relative. We also carried out a SOFI observation. SOFI is a ‘Short Observational Framework for Inspection’ tool that is used to capture the experiences of people who may not be able to tell us about the service they receive.

We spoke with the manager, a senior support worker and 3 support workers. We reviewed two people's care plans and daily records to see how their support was planned and delivered. We reviewed records of checks the staff and management team made to assure themselves people received a quality service.

Updated 20 February 2016

The inspection took place on 21 January 2016. It was an announced because the location is a small care home for younger adults who are often out during the daytime; we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Middleway Care provides care and accommodation for up to five people with a diagnosis of a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. The communal areas of the home are on the ground floor, together with two bedrooms. The rest of the bedrooms are on the first floor. Four people lived in the home at the time of our visit.

The manager had applied to become the registered manager. 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.

There were enough suitably trained staff to keep people safe. They had received training in keeping people safe and understood their responsibility to report any observed or suspected abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about the risks associated with peoples care and support. Risk assessments and management plans were in place to manage the identified risks. Medicines were managed safely so people received their medication as prescribed.

New staff received an induction, and recruitment checks were carried out prior to staff starting work at the service to make sure they were suitable for employment.

The manager and staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) to ensure people were looked after in a way that did not inappropriately restrict their freedom. At the time of our visit DoLS had been approved for all of the people living at the home.

The home had a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Staff told us they enjoyed working there. Staff were patient, attentive and treated people with kindness.

Staff respected and understood people’s need for privacy and promoted their independence. People took part in daily activities in the home and their local community.

People were involved in menu planning and their nutritional needs were met. People were supported to maintain their health and well-being and staff knew when to refer to other health professionals.

People knew how to make a complaint. A system was in place to manage complaints received about the service.

The manager had a good understanding of their responsibilities and staff felt supported by the manager.

Effective systems to monitor the quality of the service were in place. A recent quality audit had highlighted areas in the home that required improvement. Action was being taken to make these improvements.