We inspected the service on 21 and 22 December 2015. The inspection was unannounced.Lime Court provides accommodation for up to 18 people with a learning disability that require nursing or personal care. The location is made up of four connecting bungalows, with five people living in each one. On day one of the inspection there were three people at Lime Court, thirteen were attending an external activity and two were in hospital. On day two there were twelve people at the location, three were at a day centre and three were in hospital.
The service had a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. ‘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.’
We saw that people at Lime Court were kept safe by the staff and that they knew how to protect people and minimise the risk of abuse.
People were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider ensured that staff had received the training they needed to recognise and respond to the risk of abuse.
People were protected from the risk of harm because risks to people were assessed and the provider had put steps in place to minimise them.
People received flexible and responsive care because they were supported by sufficient numbers of staff.
People received their medicines at appropriate times and accurate records were maintained.
People felt that they had choices at meal times. People felt they had good access to health care support when required and that staff responded to health care issues in a timely manner.
People who we spoke with felt listened to by staff and that their requests were acted upon in a timely manner.
People were happy living at the home and felt that staff treated them with dignity and respect.
People were involved in the development of their care plans and were able to express how they preferred to received care although this was not always recorded effectively.
Staff were supportive in helping people to maintain their independence as far as was practicable.
People were supported to make decisions about their lives and discuss things that were important to them. People felt that they were supported to maintain and develop hobbies and interests.
People were involved in residents meetings and were able to influence how the service was run.
There was a positive relationship between the people, staff and the manager.
People were confident that the manager would respond positively to their requests and staff were happy working at the home.
Staff had regular supervision and appraisals and felt valued by the manager.