Archived: Patricia House

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.

There was a warm welcoming atmosphere in the home. A relative confirmed they could visit when they chose and said, "We felt it was a really homely home."

Care plans contained sufficient information so staff knew how people liked and needed to be offered support. Care plans had pictures to help people understand their care plan. Risk assessments supported staff in delivering care safely when potential risks to people's health and wellbeing had been identified. People were referred to external health care professionals when required.

Staff we spoke with demonstrated a good awareness of their responsibilities if they observed or suspected abuse. There was information available to support staff in reporting any concerns.

During our visit we observed there were sufficient numbers of staff to support the needs of the people living in the home. We observed pleasant interactions between the staff and the people living at Middleway Care.

Records were up to date and stored securely.