The Care Quality Commission

Archived: Curlews

Dunsland, Jacobstowe, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 3RH (01837) 810856

Provided and run by:
Atlas Project Team Limited

All Inspections

1 May 2012

During an inspection in response to concerns

We carried out an unannounced inspection of Curlews because we received information that a person was present in the home who we had been told by the directors of Atlas Project Team Limited was no longer working there.

At the time of this inspection there were four people living in the home and we spoke with all of them as well as looking at the daily records relating to the care and support they received. We also spoke with two staff members during our visit. The manager was not available on the day of our visit, or on the day we tried to contact her by telephone, but we had spoken with the person who was managing the home in her absence on the day of our visit.

We found that the previous chairperson of Atlas Project Team Limited had been present at times in the home until 20 April 2012 but this was no longer happening following a directive from the Nominated Individual for the organisation.

The registered manager was not working in the home at the time of our inspection but we had not received any notifications from Atlas Project Team Limited informing us of management changes at Curlews.

24 October 2011

During a routine inspection

We brought forward our unannounced inspection to Curlews due to concerns raised.

People we spoke with told us that they were involved and supported to make decisions about their care and support needs.

We saw a positive approach by staff in the way they involved people and respected their independence. We saw that staff working with people demonstrated empathy through their actions, in their conversations with people they cared for and in their discussions with us.

People we spoke with who lived at the service said that their care and welfare needs were being well met.

During our tour of the home we found a room which was bare and was referred to as the relaxation/quiet room. We were told by staff that it is not used and was last used in March 2011 to help manage a person's challenging behaviour. We established that there was no risk assessment for the use of this room to ensure appropriate use by staff members to protect people who use the service. We raised this as a concern with the registered manager due to the room having been used to manage behaviours which could have caused harm to the person or that of others.

We established that a deprivation of liberty safeguards (DOLS) application had been made on one occasion, which is one such event that we should be told about. We asked the registered manager to look at the notifications information in the 'Guidance about compliance: Essential standards of quality and safety'. The registered manager acknowledged that a notification should have been completed for the DOLS application and agreed to complete this retrospectively.

We observed staff supporting people appropriately with daily living tasks, including personal care and preparation of meals. Staff were also present at all times so that they were able to respond quickly to people's changing needs.