Archived: Oakwood Bungalows

In this report, the name of a registered manager appears who was not in post and not managing the regulatory activities at this location at the time of the inspection. Their name appears because they were still a Registered Manager on our register at the time.

Below is a summary of what we found.

Is the service caring?

People's privacy and dignity were respected. One person told us, 'Staff always knock on my bedroom and bathroom door.'

We observed, and heard, staff interacting with people in a way that showed they were genuinely interested in them.

People told us that staff respected their likes and dislikes and thought that their needs were being met. One person said, 'Staff help me a lot to do the things I like.'

Another person told us 'They were happy and liked living at the home.'

Is the service effective?

People told us that staff encouraged them to be as independent as possible. One person told us, 'They go out to shopping and have coffee in the local town.'

Staff encouraged, and supported, people to take risks that increased their independence. These risks had been thoroughly assessed and recorded.

People were fully involved in planning their lives. We saw recorded evidence of this in their care plans through individual signatures. Staff also confirmed this and one staff member spoke about the way they had involved people in planning activities.

Care plans guided staff to meet people's needs in a consistent and informed way.Although risks associated with people's daily lives need to be fully recorded.

Staff had been provided with most of the training needed to meet people's needs.

Staff also had positive views on the service. One member of staff told us, 'We all work well together. There's a good atmosphere.'

Is the service responsive?

People's personal records showed that staff were encouraged to take an approach to people which was centred on their individual needs. People's personal preferences, and likes and dislikes, were recorded and support was provided that met people's wishes.

There were meetings for the people who use the service. These were held monthly and the minutes of these reflected people's close involvement in making decisions about their life. One person told us, 'Staff listen to me.'

We found that complaints and concerns were openly discussed.

Is the service well-led?

The acting manager completed regular checks and audits of medication, infection control systems and other aspects of safety and care at the home. Records showed incidents and accidents, complaints and quality audits were reviewed by the acting manager and changes were made to improve the service where required.

However we found that the information recorded following incidents was insufficient and that the acting manager was not following this up. Also the recording of complaints was not in line with legislation as it breached the Data Protection Act 1998. People using the service, their relatives and other people involved with the service completed satisfaction surveys every six to 12 months and records showed action was taken where any improvements were required.

Team meetings were held during which staff were asked for their views about the home. Professional advice was sought and used to provide people with safe, appropriate care, for example from external health professionals

We saw that people's needs were assessed and that care plans were in place. We found that some care plans were detailed but care files contained different documents with some contradictory information. Some risks were not also assessed as part of the care planning process. We found that although consent was sought for people's care that appropriate systems were not used for making decisions if someone could not provide their own consent, for example due to their learning disability.

We found that staff were aware of how to protect people from abuse and that procedures were in place to respond to any concerns. Appropriate records were mostly kept and were stored securely at the home.

We saw that suitable recruitment procedures were used when employing staff and that staff were adequately trained and supported at the home. We also saw that suitable numbers of experienced staff worked on each shift.

We saw that the manager had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and that most areas were assessed and records kept. Reviews were not always made of care plans when incidents occurred, however, and it was not always clear whether incidents had been analysed to identify and manage risks.