Archived: Lowther Street

Updated 15 July 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 started on 17th April 2015 and was unannounced. We returned for a second day on 23rd April 2015 to meet with the operations manager and discuss future plans for the service and the organisation.

The inspection was conducted by the lead adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, such as notifications we had received from the registered provider. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We planned the inspection using this information.

We talked to the three people who were using the service when we visited. We spoke with four members of staff over the two days. We spent time with the registered manager and the operations manager.

We looked at the case files for the three people who were in the house. We also looked at a further five files of people who had used the service in the three months prior to our visit.

We looked at five staff files which included recruitment information, supervision and appraisal documents. We looked at information that told us how the service managed issues of a disciplinary nature and how the service supported staff who found their job role to be problematic.

We looked at records of individual and group staff training. We also looked at quality monitoring and quality assurance documents. We were given copies of future plans for the service. We looked at medication management and at records relating to health and safety and maintenance.

We also spoke with mental health professionals and commissioners for the service.

Updated 15 July 2015

The first day of the inspection was unannounced on 17th April 2015. We returned on the 23rd April to meet with the registered manager and the operations manager.

81 Lowther Street is a Georgian house in the centre of Whitehaven that has been adapted to provide short term accommodation for people with mental health issues.

All referrals for short term care are referred through the mental health team. There is no charge for a stay in the service. The home aims to prevent people from having admissions to hospital and to help people reintegrate after a hospital in-patient stay.

The house can take up to six people in individual rooms. There are a number of shared lounge areas and small kitchens on each floor of the building.

The service is operated by the Croftlands Trust who provide residential accommodation and community support throughout Cumbria. The Croftlands Trust has merged with the Richmond Fellowship and a number of changes were underway in the service.

The service has a 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People in the service told us they felt safe in the property. Suitable security arrangements were in place.

Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting vulnerable adults. People told us that staff treated them appropriately.

There were enough staff on duty to give good levels of support. Recruitment was managed properly. The organisation had suitable disciplinary processes.

Infection control and medicines management were managed correctly.

We looked at evidence provided about training for staff and we judged that training was out of date for some staff. The operations manager said that training had not been as well planned as it should have been. We saw a robust plan that would allow for this to be dealt with during the year.

Staff did show a good understanding of the work they did. Supervision and staff development was underway.

No one in the home was deprived of their liberty. Restraint was not used in the service. Good arrangements were in place to ensure consent was sought.

People in the home were encouraged and supported to get physical and mental health support from professionals. Healthy eating was promoted in the service.

The house was not suitable for people with complex physical disabilities. This was explained prior to admission.

People told us that the staff were caring and were able to give them the right level of support to encourage recovery and independence.

There were regular house meetings and people were encouraged to participate fully in recovery plans. Advocacy was available.

People were given privacy in the house and told us the staff treated them with dignity and allowed them their rights.

Assessments and care plans were detailed and up to date. People were involved with the planning of their care and support. Staff encouraged people to maintain skills and engage in social activities.

Complaints were suitably managed.

Good arrangements were in place for people moving between different support services.

The management of the home was being dealt with appropriately and a number of updates were being made to the systems and procedures in the home.

The registered manager was trained and experienced in management and had a background in mental health nursing. This meant that the manager could lead the staff appropriately in supporting people with on-going mental health needs.

The registered manager and his line manager told us of the plans in place to update and improve on the monitoring of quality. We had evidence to show that quality assurance was already in place and that new systems were being introduced.

The team worked well with local mental health practitioners and mental health professionals told us that the service was of great benefit to people with relapsing mental illnesses.