We carried out a review of the data available to us about Kirkside Lodge on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Kirkside Lodge, you can give feedback on this service.
Kirkside Lodge is a service for eight people, divided over four apartments and providing support to adults with a learning disability and/ or autism spectrum disorder. The service supports people between the ages of 18 and 65. At the time of the inspection there were eight people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.
People using the service received planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People were happy at the service; they said they enjoyed life and the support they received was good. Staff were kind and caring and had developed positive relationships with people. The service delivered safe care and made sure risks to people’s health and safety were managed well. Systems were in place to ensure people were protected from harm. Staff showed a good understanding of how to protect people from harm. Staffing numbers were sufficient to keep people safe. The provider followed safe recruitment procedures to ensure staff employed were suitable for their role. Medicines were managed safely.
The service delivered effective care, and ensured staff had the skills and knowledge to meet the people’s needs. Staff felt supported and received supervision and appraisals of their performance. The service was well-led. We received positive feedback about the registered manager and management team from people, staff, relatives, representatives and health professionals. Effective quality audit systems were in place. This ensured the care provided was checked and continually improving. The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to report events that occurred within the service to the Care Quality Commission and external agencies.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good. (report published 24 August 2018).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of physical interventions such as restraint. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Questions of Safe and Well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kirkside Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key question Safe to at least good. During this inspection we found improvements had been made and medicines were now overall, managed safely. Improvements were needed to ensure safe storage of medicines during hot weather conditions and these were in the process of being addressed.
Kirkside Lodge is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
Kirkside Lodge is a service for eight people, divided over four apartments and providing support to adults with a learning disability and/ or autism spectrum disorder. The service supports people between the ages of 18 and 65.
The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.
There was no registered manager as they had very recently left the service. 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. A new manager had been appointed and had applied to the CQC to become the registered manager.
People and their relatives told us they or their family member felt safe. Staff understood how to keep people safe and told us any potential risks were identified and managed. Risk assessments contained enough detail to enable staff to keep people safe from harm. Risk assessments were reviewed regularly, and any changes were incorporated into people's support plans.
Safeguarding procedures and policies were in place. Staff and the management team were aware of their responsibilities to identify and report any allegations of abuse to the local authority. Staff had received safeguarding training.
Staff were recruited safely and were deployed in suitable numbers to meet people’s assessed needs. Staff and people who used the service told us there were enough staff available to meet the needs of people and support them with any activities.
People received care from staff who had the skills and knowledge required to effectively support them. All staff had completed a range of training and new staff completed the Care Certificate (a nationally recognised training course for staff new to care). Staff said they enjoyed working for the service. They were motivated and committed to providing a service that was personalised to each individual.
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. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to seek people's consent prior to care and support being provided. The service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
People’s health was monitored by the staff and they had access to a variety of healthcare professionals. This helped ensure people's healthcare needs were met. People's nutritional needs were met. People told us they enjoyed the food and menus were varied. People told us they enjoyed cooking for themselves.
People told us they liked and got on well with the staff that worked at the service. We saw staff treated people with kindness, respect and compassion. People were treated with dignity and their choices were respected by staff. People’s independence was promoted. There was a wide range of activities available for people both in the home and in the community. People were supported to maintain contacts and relationships outside of the service.
People or their relatives were involved in the planning of their or their family member’s care. Support plans and risk assessments were updated as people’s needs changed to ensure staff were fully aware of people’s needs. There were systems in place to ensure any concerns or complaints were responded to and acted upon.
Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor and continually improve the quality of the service provided. Policies and procedures were in place and were kept under review. Feedback was obtained from people who used the service, their families and representatives.
The management team and staff were committed and enthusiastic to providing a person centred service for people. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and said they felt well supported by a management team who were open and approachable.
Kirkside Lodge is a service for eight people, divided over four apartments and providing support to adults with learning disabilities and complex needs. Located in Kirkstall, Leeds, the home is within close proximity to local services and amenities, including major transport links. At the time of this inspection eight people were using the service.
The service had a registered manager although they were not generally involved in the day to day running of the service. A manager had been in post for four weeks and told us they would be submitting a registered manager’s application and had a meeting planned to discuss this with their line 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People told us they felt safe and if ever they felt concerned or worried they would talk to staff or a member of the management team. Risks to people had been identified, assessed and managed through the support planning process. Within people’s support plans there was guidance around the use of restraint and in the event of restraint being used clear records were maintained which were then reported to senior managers. We saw people lived in a safe environment and facilities enabled independent living. Some areas of the service needed decorating and some furniture and fittings were damaged. The issues had been escalated to senior managers and were being addressed. Staffing arrangements exceeded the contracted hours, however, some people’s one to one allocated hours were not clearly evidenced so it was not clear they always received this.
Staff told us they felt supported by colleagues and the management team. They said the quality of training was good and covered areas that were relevant to their role. People were involved in making decisions about their care and support. Where people lacked capacity best interest decisions were made. People told us they enjoyed the meals and were asked what they wanted to include on the menu. New menus were being introduced, which were going to offer more lunch options. People we spoke with said they were happy with the support they received to help make sure they stayed healthy. They had health action plans and hospital passports. It was not clear that everyone had attended appointments that covered their general health needs such as dental and optician because some information had been archived. The manager agreed to review the archiving arrangements to ensure a record of appointments was readily available.
People told us they were happy living at Kirkside Lodge and were well cared for. Staff told us people were well cared for and the service was person focussed. They said good systems were in place to make sure people’s history, preferences and goals were understood and we saw evidence that confirmed this. During the inspection we observed people were comfortable in their environment and there were sufficient communal facilities to ensure people had adequate space and their privacy was respected. Information was displayed to help keep people informed.
People told us they chatted to their key workers about the support they wanted. We found support plans were detailed and contained clear information which guided staff around how care should be delivered. People had person centred activity programmes. A system was in place for managing concerns and formal complaints.
We received positive feedback about the management team. Staff told us the service was well led. They told us it was well organised and communication was effective. People were encouraged to share their views and put forward suggestions. People who used the service and staff attended regular meetings and were asked to comment through surveys. The provider monitored the service through a range of quality management systems.
We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) regulations 2014. These related to safe care and treatment and person centred care. You can see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
This was an unannounced inspection carried out on the 27 February 2015. There has not been a previous inspection as the service was registered in November 2014.
Kirkside Lodge is a service for eight people, divided over four apartments and providing support to adults with learning disabilities and complex needs. Located in Kirkstall, Leeds, the home is within close proximity to local services and amenities, including major transport links.
At the time of this inspection there was a manager in post but they were not yet registered. 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. A manager had been recently appointed; they told us they would be submitting their application for registration to CQC shortly.
There were good systems in place to ensure people’s safety and manage risks to people who used the service. Staff could describe the procedures in place to safeguard people from abuse and unnecessary harm. Recruitment practices were robust and thorough. Appropriate arrangements were in place to manage the medicines of people who used the service.
People were cared for by sufficient numbers of suitably trained staff. We saw staff received the training and support required to meet people’s needs well. People’s needs were assessed and care and support was planned and delivered in line with their individual care needs. People had detailed person centred care plans in place which described all aspects of their support needs.
Staff were trained in the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005), and could describe how people were supported to make decisions to enhance their capacity and where people did not have the capacity, decisions were made in their best interests.
Health, care and support needs were assessed and met by regular contact with health professionals. People were supported by staff who treated them with kindness and were respectful of their privacy and dignity.
People participated in a range of activities both in the home and in the community and were able to choose where they spent their time.
Staff were aware of how to support people to raise concerns and complaints and we saw the provider learnt from complaints and suggestions and made improvements to the service.
Systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service were not always effective. The records we looked at did not show evidence that improvements identified through audit were always completed.