Oaklands

Updated 23 November 2018

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 30 October 2018. It was unannounced and was carried out by one inspector.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Prior to the inspection we looked at the PIR and all the information we had collected about the service. This included previous inspection reports, information received and notifications the service had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

We spoke with the registered manager and four care workers. We received feedback from two relatives and spoke with all six people who live at the service. However, due to people’s complex needs, we could not discuss matters relating to the inspection with them in depth. As part of the inspection we sought feedback from seven community professionals and received responses from one.

We looked at three people's care plans, daily notes, monitoring records and medicine administration sheets. We saw staff recruitment files for the three staff members who had been employed since our last inspection. We reviewed a number of other documents relating to the management of the service. For example, staff training records, staff supervision and appraisal log, premises safety records, legionella and fire risk assessments, audits, staff meeting minutes and compliments records.

Updated 23 November 2018

Oaklands is a care home without nursing for up to six people with learning disabilities and/or who are on the autistic spectrum. At the time of this inspection there were six people living at the service.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good in four of the five key questions, improving to Outstanding in the responsive question. This means the overall rating for the service remains Good.

Why the service is rated Good

The service continued to meet all the fundamental standards and had a registered manager as required. The registered manager was present and assisted us with the inspection.

People received extremely personalised care with staff demonstrating innovative and 'lateral' thinking in helping people to increase their independence and life skills and meet their needs. People were supported to identify their own goals and ambitions and to work towards achieving them by the highly motivated staff team.

People knew how to complain and staff knew the process to follow if they had concerns. Staff showed great skill in identifying when people, who were not able to communicate verbally, were distressed, anxious and/or concerned. Staff were quick to respond to any signs of distress. The success of their individualised interactions showed an in-depth knowledge of how each person demonstrated they were not happy and what to do to help them feel safe and calm.

People received excellent care and support from staff who were well trained and supervised. Staff demonstrated a strong commitment to ensuring people were involved in all aspects of decisions regarding their care and the development of the service. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were protected from the risks of abuse. Risks were identified and managed effectively to protect people from avoidable harm. Recruitment processes were in place to make sure, as far as possible, that people were protected from staff being employed who were not suitable. Medicines were handled correctly and safely.

People were treated with care and kindness and their right to confidentiality was protected. People were treated with respect and their dignity was upheld. People's diversity needs were identified and incorporated into their care plans where applicable.

People benefitted from a service which had an open and inclusive culture. Staff were very happy working at the service and people benefitted from having staff who felt well managed and supported.

Further information is in the detailed findings in the full report.