Archived: Plough Hill Road

Voyage 1 Limited is a large provider of care services. This location is registered to provide residential accommodation, care and support to people with a range of medical conditions and disabilities. The service offers short respite stays for to up to three people, at any time, who are away from their own home. At the time of our inspection visit, one person was staying at the home. Twelve people regularly used the home for respite stays.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 was registered with us for this service.

At our last inspection in March 2016, we rated the service ‘requires improvement.’ Improvements were required in how the provider and staff worked within the principles of the Mental capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and in how staff were supported by managers. At this inspection, we checked to see if improvements had been made and found they had. There had been changes in the management structure and an existing Voyage1 Limited manager had become registered with us for this service during June 2016. A team leader had been appointed and staff felt supported in their roles.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), and staff worked within the principles of this Act and understood the importance of giving choices to people and respecting people’s decisions. Staff understood when they should work in a person’s ‘best interests.’

Staff received an induction and were trained so they had the skills they needed for their job role. There was a safe recruitment process to ensure that staff were of good character. Staff felt there were enough staff on shift and that they could ask for help if needed from the provider’s supported living service; Stretton Lodge, located next door.

Staff knew how to keep people they supported safe during their short stay at the home. There were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. Staff were trained to recognise signs of abuse and understood how to protect people from the risk of abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

People were supported by trained staff to take their medicines safely as prescribed. Some records had not been completed as required and immediate action was taken to address this.

People and relatives described staff as kind and felt they had a caring attitude. Staff said they would attempt to resolve any concerns a person had. Relatives knew how to make a complaint if needed, however, the complaints policy displayed in the home was not in a format accessible to people using the service.

People had individual care plans and work was in progress to personalise these and involve people in their care plan as far as possible. People were supported to do things they enjoyed and take part in activities of their choice.

People had choices about how and where they spent their time. People were supported to select what meal they would like and independence was promoted by involving people in cooking tasks or personal care tasks.

There were systems and processes to monitor and review the quality of the service people received. This was through feedback from an annual survey sent to people’s relatives which they completed with their family member. Daily checks and audits were undertaken at the service.

Plough Hill Road provides accommodation for people in a residential setting. Plough Hill Road is a respite service providing accommodation for people with a range of medical conditions and disabilities for a short period of time. It enables people to access supported activities and holidays away from their own home. There were 3 people staying at the home when we inspected the service. 26 people regularly used the home for respite stays.

A requirement of the provider’s registration is that they have 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. There was a registered manager in post; however they were on extended leave at the time of our inspection visit. The day to day manager of the service was also on leave when we conducted our inspection visit. The home was being managed by a newly appointed interim manager. We refer to the interim manager as the manager in the body of this report.

We had not received a notification from the provider that the registered manager was absent from the home before our inspection visit. The provider is required by law to notify us of such events if the registered manager is absent for more than 28 days. The registered manager had been absent since 1 February 2016.

The provider had not ensured people were always cared for in a way that did not inappropriately restrict their freedom under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). The newly appointed interim manager was undertaking assessments to ensure the appropriate applications were made to the local authority where people’s freedom was restricted in accordance with DoLS and the MCA.

Quality assurance procedures were in place to identify where improvements needed to be made. Where issues were identified the provider had not always acted to make the necessary changes to the service. However, the provider had introduced procedures to review how this could be rectified in the future.

People were supported with their health and nutritional needs. There were systems in place to ensure that medicines were stored safely. Medicines procedures were under review to ensure people received their medicines according to recommended guidance.

Staff received training in safeguarding adults and were able to explain the correct procedure to follow if they had concerns. All necessary checks had been completed before new staff started work at the home to make sure, as far as possible, they were safe to work with the people who lived there. The manager and staff identified risks to people who used the service and took action to manage identified risks and keep people safe.

There were enough staff employed at the service to care for people safely. New staff completed an induction programme when they started work to ensure they had the skills they needed to support people effectively. Staff received training and had regular meetings with their manager in which their performance and development was discussed.

Each person had a care and support plan with detailed information and guidance personal to them. Care plans included information on maintaining the person's health, their daily routines and preferences.

Staff were caring and supported people to maintain their privacy and independence. People were supported in a range of activities according to staff capacity, both inside and outside the home. Staff encouraged people to be involved in decisions about their life and their support needs.

People who used the service and their relatives were given the opportunity to share their views about how the service was run. People knew how to make a complaint if they needed to. Complaints received were fully investigated and analysed so that the provider could learn from them. The provider acted on the feedback they received to improve their service.