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Inspection on 23/12/09 for Greenacres

Also see our care home review for Greenacres for more information

This is the latest available inspection report for this service, carried out on 23rd 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 Excellent.

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: Greenacres The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: three star excellent service 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: Sally Gill Date of this annual service review: 1 9 1 1 2 0 0 9 Annual Service Review Page 1 of 7 Information about the service Address of service: Mill Lane South Chailey Lewes East Sussex BN8 4PY 01273890863 01273891621 john.reilly@eastsussex.gov.uk www.eastsussex.gov.uk/socialcare East Sussex County Council Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address:   Name of registered provider(s): Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : learning disability Conditions of registration: Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 7 0 The maximum number of service users to be accommodated is 5 The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care home only(PC) to service users of the following gender: Either whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following category : Learning disability (LD) Have there been any changes in the ownership, management or the No 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 Greenacres is an established service that is registered to provide care for up to seven people who have learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. The home is a large bungalow in South Chailey, a village to the north of Lewes. It is in a quiet location, and has large gardens around the bungalow. The home includes seven single bedrooms, a lounge, a dining room, a kitchenette/dining area, a large kitchen, two bathrooms and a sensory room. There are two vehicles to enable people to access services and community facilities. Staff are employed by East Sussex County Council Social Services department, and are responsible for providing the care and day-to-day Annual Service Review Page 2 of 7 running of the home. Information about the service, including the Statement of Purpose and inspection reports is made available to prospective service users, as part of the admission process. The range of weekly fees can be obtained from the manager of the home. A copy of the latest inspection report can be obtained from the home or downloaded from www.cqc.org.uk 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 and 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. It is a statutory requirement that the service inform us without delay. The previous key inspection and annual service review. Relevant information received from organisations. A telephone call to the registered manager What has this told us about the service? The service returned the annual quality assurance assessment (AQAA) within the required timescale. This was clear and gave a good picture of the home although some minor data was missing. It identified areas that have improved in the last year including reviewing information for people that use the service such as the statement of purpose/service user guide and licence agreement (contract), people are able to choose and attend more activities in the evenings and travel further afield for these and the variety of communication methods with individuals has been strengthen to ensure everyone in the home has a voice. It also identifies areas where further developments are either planned or would benefit people who use the service. The last key inspection was undertaken in November 2007 and the report was very positive with no requirements made. The AQAA indicates that no complaints have been received by the service in the last 12 months. The Commission has also received no complaints. The service has kept us informed about significant events that affect the people living in the home. Although at times reports are not always received by the Commission without delay as required. From the notifications received there has not been anything out of the ordinary that has caused us to become concerned. There have been sixteen Annual Service Review Page 4 of 7 referrals made to safeguarding which are now closed and were appropriately managed by the service. Three survey forms have been received from people that use the service which were completed with the help of staff. These were generally positive about the service. One individual indicated they did not know how to make a complaint. Another indicated no to whether they had a choice about what to do in the day, evening and weekend. When asked what the home does well comments were helps provide me with a variety of choices. It helps keep me safe and comfortable. It supports me with my activities. 1. Gets me out and about every day. 2. Meals are good. When asked what the home could better comments were make a better effort to get to know me as I do not verbally communicate. It could build some out-houses for arts and crafts - there is a very big garden that is unused. To go out even more and on my own as far as possible. A copy of the homes own service users quality assurance questionnaire results was obtained. One or two individuals answered the questions and their feedback was generally positive about the care and support they receive. Two staff surveys were received. Their responses were mixed about the service. One member of staff felt that not all staff follow guidelines and although management think team meetings are in place to discuss this it is difficult when you also have to work alongside the same staff. Another comment was that there are some ongoing issues between certain service users and certain staff. One staff member indicated that there was never enough staff to meet the needs of individuals and the other indicated there usually was. When asked what the home does well comments included most staff have a good understanding with the service users. Team leader is always available. Staff work well (some not all). The home constantly seeks to meet individuals need and goals. Managers are recognising that the staff team needs professional support in terms of supporting service users behavioural problems by attending some team meetings. When asked what the home could do better comments were have the kitchen area more adaptable for the service users to be able to use. Support the staff team more in terms of arranging regular team building days. I have not had a team building day in over six years and working with service users who present challenging behaviour on a daily basis takes its toll on the staff members. A telephone call was made to the manager to discuss some of the comments received in the surveys. The manager felt some of the staff comments are vague and not quantified by anything. He told us if he was aware of any issues or concerns that staff were not following guidelines this would be addressed in individual supervision and guidelines reiterated generally in a team meeting. The manager told us he is not aware of any issues or concerns at present. The manager also told us there are between four and six staff on duty during the day and he feels this is adequate to meet the needs of the six individuals currently living at the home. He said there is a training kitchen area which can be used by individuals and a summer house which is already used for arts and crafts. People using the service are encouraged to use the garden in good weather Annual Service Review Page 5 of 7 but mainly decline, they are also encouraged to help maintain the garden but again decline. After considering the information our judgement is that the service is still providing a good service and that they plan to make further improvements to improve outcomes for people who use the service. What are we going to do as a result of this annual service review? We are not going to change our inspection plan, and will do a key inspection by 27th November 2010. However we can inspect the service at any time if we have concerns about the quality of the service or the safety of the people using the service. Annual Service Review Page 6 of 7 Reader Information Document Purpose: Author: Audience: Further copies from: Annual service review CQC General Public 0870 240 7535 (national contact centre) Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. The content of which can be found on our website. Helpline: Telephone: 03000 616161 Email: enquiries@cqc.org.uk Web: www.cqc.org.uk We want people to be able to access this information. 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