Archived: Clifford House

Updated 19 April 2017

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 was 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. We checked if improvements to meet legal requirements had been made following our last inspection in February 2016.

The inspection took place on 8 and 13 February 2017 and the first day was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales. We contacted the local authority that commissions the service.

During our inspection we met and talked with six of the people living at the home, two relatives, the registered manager, deputy manager, and four support staff. We telephoned a further two relatives to get their views and spent time observing how staff interacted with and supported people. We looked at three people’s care records, two staff files and a range of other records related to the management of the service.

Updated 19 April 2017

The inspection took place on 8 and 13 February 2017 and was unannounced. We had last inspected Clifford House in February 2016 and found breaches of legal requirements in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing, need for consent and good governance. At this inspection we judged the necessary improvements to meet legal requirements had been implemented and have changed our rating of the service.

Clifford House provides care and support for up to ten people who have learning and/or physical disabilities. Nursing care is not provided. At the time of our inspection there were eight people living at the home.

The service had 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found safety in the home had been improved by the completion of works advised by the fire authority, including a certified test of the electrical installation. There were now plans for dealing with emergencies and an identified place of safety for people should the home need to be evacuated.

Risks to personal safety were appropriately managed and steps were taken to safeguard people from harm and abuse. Relatives confirmed they felt their family members were safely cared for.

New staff had been properly vetted before they started working at the home. Sufficient numbers of support staff were employed and people were given continuity of care. The staff received training that equipped them to meet people’s needs effectively. Improvements had been made to supervision and appraisal arrangements to support the staff in their roles and development.

Medicines were managed safely. People were well supported with their healthcare needs and there were close working relationships with NHS professionals, including specialist learning disability nurses. A varied diet with choices of food and drinks was offered and people’s nutritional needs were assessed and monitored.

Formal processes were followed under mental capacity law to uphold the rights of people who were unable to give consent or make important decisions about their care. Staff understood people’s diverse needs and the ways they communicated and preferred to be supported.

Staff were caring in their approach and knew people well. Good relationships had been formed and people were treated as individuals. People’s privacy, dignity and independent living skills were promoted.

Personalised care plans were in place which guided staff on meeting people’s needs. A range of social activities was undertaken and people had good links with their local community. People and their relatives were made aware of how to make a complaint if they were ever unhappy with their care. No complaints had been received over the past year.

The management provided leadership and support to the staff team. An inclusive culture encouraged people and their relatives to influence how the service was run. There was now improved governance, with further methods of obtaining feedback and checking the quality of the service.