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Inspection on 15/12/09 for 140 Gloucester Road

Also see our care home review for 140 Gloucester Road for more information

This is the latest available inspection report for this service, carried out on 15th December 2009.

it is an annual review prepared by CQC after examining previous reports and information from the provider. At the time of this report, CQC judged the service to be Good.

The inspector made no statutory requirements on the home as a result of this inspection and there were no outstanding actions from the previous inspection report.

What follows are excerpts from this inspection report. For more information read the full report on the next tab.

Annual service review Name of Service: 140 Gloucester Road The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: two star good service 2 3 1 0 2 0 0 8 A quality rating is our assessment of how well a care home, agency or scheme is meeting the needs of the people who use it. We give a quality rating following a full review of the service. We call this review a ‘key’ inspection We do an annual service review when there has been no key inspection of the service in the last 12 months. It does not involve a visit to the service but is a summary of new information given to us, or collected by us, since the last key inspection or annual service review.   Has this annual service review changed our opinion of the service?   No You should read the last key inspection report for this service to get a full picture of how well outcomes for the people using the service are being met. The date by which we will do a key inspection: Name of inspector: Wendy Jones Date of this annual service review: 0 5 1 1 2 0 0 9 Annual Service Review Page 1 of 7 Information about the service Address of service: 140 Gloucester Road Kidsgrove Stoke on Trent Staffordshire ST7 1EL 01782782596 01782775918 linda.foden@staffordshire.gov.uk Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address:   Name of registered provider(s): Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : learning disability Conditions of registration: Staffordshire County Council Social Care And Health Directorate Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 17 0 The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 17 The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care Home Only (Code PC); To service users of the following gender: Either; Whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following categories: Learning Disability (LD) 17 Have there been any changes in the ownership, management or the Yes service’s registration details in the last 12 months? If yes, what have they been: Date of last key inspection: Date of last annual service review (if applicable): Brief description of the service 140 Gloucester Road is a service providing 24 hour care for 17 people with a learning disability. A number of people who use the service have additional needs including physical, sensory, challenging behaviour and mental health. The home is owned by Staffordshire County Council, managed by the Social Care and Health Directorate and is located in Kidsgrove. It is set back from the road in large grassed grounds. There are two houses in the grounds for people supported through domiciliary services. The Annual Service Review Page 2 of 7 None 2 3 1 0 2 0 0 8 service does not provide care to these houses, but does retain responsibility for maintenance and health and safety. The service provides all single bedroom accommodation of which eight are downstairs none have en-suite facilities. There is one large communal lounge and an industrial kitchen and three lounges with kitchens. The people who use the service are divided into small groups and the groups spend time in their own lounge and eat together in their kitchen/diners. The majority of people attend Kidsgrove day services. Annual Service Review Page 3 of 7 Service update since the last key inspection or annual service review: What did we do for this annual service review? We looked at all the information that we have received, or asked for, since the last key inspection or annual service review. This included: The annual quality assurance assessment (AQAA) that was sent to us by the service. The AQAA is a self-assessment that focuses on how well outcomes are being met for people using the service. It also gave us some numerical information about the service. Surveys returned to us by people using the service and from other people with an interest in the service. Information we have about how the service has managed any complaints. What the service has told us about things that have happened in the service, these are called notifications and are a legal requirement. The previous key inspection and the results of any other visits that we have made to the service in the last 12 months. Relevant information from other organisations. What other people have told us about the service.. What has this told us about the service? The home sent us their annual quality assurance assessment (AQAA) when we asked for it. It was not very detailed and has not provided us with all the information we asked for. We cannot be sure from the information in the AQAA that the home is still providing a good service in all outcome areas. We have sent surveys to people using the service, staff, relatives, health and social care professionals. We have received 7 from people using the service, 4 from staff and one health professional survey. Comments include I have been entirely satisfied with the very positive response from the staff team to carrying out my instructions about meeting the health needs of my patient. When asked what the service does well people using the service have said: They look after me well, see that Im clean and tidy and also make sure Im happy. Take care of me and help me with everything. Do everything I ask of them, I like the staff and have good friends. Staff have told us that; The home meets all the needs of service users and maintains high standards of care. Staff receive a good standard of training and are supported and supervised regularly. We offer a very good standard of care and support to all people Annual Service Review Page 4 of 7 using the service. My manager is excellent and the care managers are very good, we all work well as a team. 140 Gloucester Road cares very well for the people using the service and meets all expectations and needs. Gloucester Road provides a very happy environment and a comfortable home in which to live. Management and care staff are dedicated. People using the service told us that the service could do better by; Taking us out more. They do nothing well Id like to go out more. Staff have told us; We need more staff. With sufficient staffing levels we would be able to access the community more frequently and the day to day care, cooking and cleaning would be of a higher standard. Conflict between day and night staff can cause problems at times and can be quite stressful. It would be good if the people using the service were able to go out more on social outings. Due to the proposal to close the home valuable staff have left, leaving a situation where we are short staffed which limits social outings. All areas of the home could be improved with sufficient staffing. We have been told in the AQAA that long term sickness, staff vacancies and the none availability of basic training is having an impact on the day to day delivery of care. That only 6 of the 16 support staff employed by the service have trained at National Vocational Qualification level 2, this is less that the recommended minimum of 50 of the workforce. Following discussion with the service and from staff surveys, we understand that the number of staff vacancies are increasing, and current vacancies are for 2 night support staff, 3 domestic staff, 1 day staff and a cook. Staff have told us that they are assuming these additional duties and have been doing for sometime, this has impacted on the quality of life of people using the service. We have also been told in the AQAA that outings for people using the service have improved, but the evidence we have in surveys indicates that the improvement has not been significant. We have not received a complaint about this service since the last key inspection visit. The service has told us that it also hasnt received a complaint in the last 12 months, but has told us that they have been involved in three safeguarding referrals and investigations. We have been notified of the outcomes of these referrals and have been assured that the service has co-operated fully with any enquiries. People using the service have told us that they know how to make a complaint and who to go to if they have any concerns. We ask services to tell us about significant events in the home affecting the welfare and well being of people using the service. We have received 7 notifications of this type in the last 12 months. We have spoken to the service about these events periodically, and more recently about an incident when medication had not been properly administered by staff. We have asked for evidence that this matter has been properly investigated. In terms of equality and diversity, information in the AQAA confirms that the service promotes individuality and person centred care. We have not been able to make a judgement about the management of this service, Annual Service Review Page 5 of 7 because the AQAA has not been completed in this outcome area. We are concerned about the lack of information. We do know that relevant policies and procedures are in place but cannot be sure that they are up to date because we havent been told when they were last reviewed. We have been told that servicing and testing of equipment in the home is up to date. What are we going to do as a result of this annual service review? We are concerned that there appears to be some deterioration in the quality of life of people using the service since the last key visit. Because of this we intend to bring forward the next key inspection and will carry out this visit before 30 April 2010. 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