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Inspection on 28/11/08 for 26 Seabrook Road

Also see our care home review for 26 Seabrook Road for more information

This inspection was carried out on 28th November 2008.

CSCI found this care home to be providing an Good service.

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.

What the care home does well

There is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The people who live in the Service say (and indicate by their relaxed manner) that support workers are kind and attentive. People say that they have good meals. People receive the support and assistance they need. Support workers know what they are doing and they have a detailed knowledge of what each person needs and wants. Medication is given safely and people are helped to promote their good health. Sensible steps are taken to reduce the chance of accidents.

What has improved since the last inspection?

Extensive repairs have been made to the roof following the local earthquake earlier in the year. Some internal damage has also been made good. Support workers have attended a number of relevant training courses.

What the care home could do better:

Various written documents aren`t that user friendly. This means that people who live in the Service won`t find them to be that easy to understand. Bits of the fire safety system need to be strengthened. This includes things like checking the smoke detectors and fire training for staff. This is important because the present arrangements might reduce the level of fire safety protection in the Service. The quality assurance system does not really involve members of staff. Also, it can do more to tell people what improvements have been suggested and what is going to be done about them.

Inspecting for better lives Key inspection report Care homes for adults (18-65 years) Name: Address: 26 Seabrook Road 26 Seabrook Road Hythe Kent CT21 5NA     The quality rating for this care home is:   two star good 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 assessment of the service. We call this a ‘key’ inspection. Lead inspector: Mark Hemmings     Date: 2 8 1 1 2 0 0 8 This is a report of an inspection where we looked at how well this care home is meeting the needs of people who use it. There is a summary of what we think this service does well, what they have improved on and, where it applies, what they need to do better. We use the national minimum standards to describe the outcomes that people should experience. National minimum standards are written by the Department of Health for each type of care service. After the summary there is more detail about our findings. The following table explains what you will see under each outcome area. Outcome area (for example Choice of home) These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. the things that people have said are important to them: They reflect This box tells you the outcomes that we will always inspect against when we do a key inspection. This box tells you any additional outcomes that we may inspect against when we do a key inspection. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: This box tells you our opinion of what we have looked at in this outcome area. We will say whether it is excellent, good, adequate or poor. Evidence: This box describes the information we used to come to our judgement. Copies of the National Minimum Standards – Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) can be found at www.dh.gov.uk or bought from The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering from the Stationery Office is also available: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop The Commission for Social Care Inspection aims to: · · · · Put the people who use social care first Improve services and stamp out bad practice Be an expert voice on social care Practise what we preach in our own organisation Our duty to regulate social care services is set out in the Care Standards Act 2000. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 2 of 29 Reader Information Document Purpose Author Audience Further copies from Copyright Inspection report CSCI General public 0870 240 7535 (telephone order line) Copyright © (2008) Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, free of charge, in any format or medium provided that it is not used for commercial gain. This consent is subject to the material being reproduced accurately and on proviso that it is not used in a derogatory manner or misleading context. The material should be acknowledged as CSCI copyright, with the title and date of publication of the document specified. www.csci.org.uk Internet address Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 3 of 29 Information about the care home Name of care home: Address: 26 Seabrook Road 26 Seabrook Road Hythe Kent CT21 5NA 01303266453 01303237694 geminiassoc@aol.com Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address: Name of registered provider(s): Name of registered manager (if applicable) Mrs Sharon Dierdre Buss Type of registration: Number of places registered: Mrs Sharon Dierdre Buss care home 3 Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 learning disability Additional conditions: The maximum number of service users who can be accommodated is: 3 The registered person may provide the following category/ies 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 categories: Learning disability - LD Date of last inspection Brief description of the care home Three people who have a learning disability and who are between the ages of 18 and 65 can make their home in 26 Seabrook Road (the Service). The property is an ordinary semi detached house. It stands back a little from quite a busy road. Each person can have their own bedroom. There is a lounge on the ground floor. But the dining room/kitchen is used more than the lounge. This is because people can sit around there and chat while having drinks and doing things in general. Hythe town centre is within easy walking distance. This means that the Service is near to a good range of shops. Also, its convenient for public transport links. The Registered Provider Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 4 of 29 Over 65 0 3 Brief description of the care home is a private individual. She runs another similar service nearby. The term Registered Provider is a legal thing. This means that she is accountable in law for how the Service is run. People who might want to move in can find out more about the Service and about the charges from the Registered Provider. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 5 of 29 Summary This is an overview of what we found during the inspection. The quality rating for this care home is: Our judgement for each outcome: two star good service Choice of home Individual needs and choices Lifestyle Personal and healthcare support Concerns, complaints and protection Environment Staffing Conduct and management of the home peterchart Poor Adequate Good Excellent How we did our inspection: The quality rating for this Service is 2 star. This means that the people who use this Service experience good quality outcomes. Since 1 April 2006 we have developed the way we do our inspection of care services. This inspection of the Service was a Key Inspection. We arrived at the Service at about 9 oclock and were there for about five hours. It was a thorough look at how well things are going. We took into account detailed and clear information provided by the Registered Provider in her self-assessment. This is called the Annual Quality Assurance Assessment (the Assessment). Further, we considered any information that we have received about the Service since the last inspection. We spoke with the Registered Provider. She is also the manager of the Service. This means that she is around on a Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 6 of 29 day to day basis. Also, it means that she is directly involved in making everyday decisions such as which suppprt workers will be on duty and when. We spoke with all of the three people who live in the Service at the moment and with two of the support workers. We met one relative who called specially to speak with us. We looked at some key records and documents and we had a look around the place. Before we went to the Service we asked the poeple who live there and some support workers to fill in some questionnaires for us. These questionnnaires ask various questions about how things things are going in the Service. We got one back from each of the people who live there and we also got questionnaires back from three support workers. What the care home does well: What has improved since the last inspection? What they could do better: If you want to know what action the person responsible for this care home is taking following this report, you can contact them using the details set out on page 4. The report of this inspection is available from our website www.csci.org.uk. You can get printed copies from enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk or by telephoning our order line –0870 240 7535. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 8 of 29 Details of our findings Contents Choice of home (standards 1 - 5) Individual needs and choices (standards 6-10) Lifestyle (standards 11 - 17) Personal and healthcare support (standards 18 - 21) Concerns, complaints and protection (standards 22 - 23) Environment (standards 24 - 30) Staffing (standards 31 - 36) Conduct and management of the home (standards 37 - 43) Outstanding statutory requirements Requirements and recommendations from this inspection Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 9 of 29 Choice of home These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People are confident that the care home can support them. This is because there is an accurate assessment of their needs that they, or people close to them, have been involved in. This tells the home all about them, what they hope for and want to achieve, and the support they need. People can decide whether the care home can meet their support and accommodation needs. This is because they, and people close to them, can visit the home and get full, clear, accurate and up to date information. If they decide to stay in the home they know about their rights and responsibilities because there is an easy to understand contract or statement of terms and conditions between the person and the care home that includes how much they will pay and what the home provides for the money. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standard 2. People who might want to move in are asked about what support they want. They are then helped to settle in. Evidence: The Registered Provider says that she recognises that moving into a residential care setting is a big decision for someone to make. She wants to make the process as comfortable as possible. She does this by chatting with the person concerned so that she can get a good idea of what support they need and about how they want to get this. She does this so that she can be sure that 26 Seabrook Road is the right place for them to live. She also takes the time to answer any questions they may have. Alongside this, she talks with members of the persons family and with people like care managers (social workers). This is done so that she can double check that she has all the information she needs. After all of this is done, the person is invited to visit the Service so that they can check out first hand what things are like. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 10 of 29 Evidence: No one has moved into the Service since our last inspection and no one is due to do so in the foreseeable future. None of the people who live in the Service said much to us about their experience of moving in. So we asked one of the family members concerned. They say that they were fully involved in the process. They also say that support workers had a very good understanding of the support the person needed from the point they arrived. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 11 of 29 Individual needs and choices These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People’s needs and goals are met. The home has a plan of care that the person, or someone close to them, has been involved in making. People are able to make decisions about their life, including their finances, with support if they need it. This is because the staff promote their rights and choices. People are supported to take risks to enable them to stay independent. This is because the staff have appropriate information on which to base decisions. People are asked about, and are involved in, all aspects of life in the home. This is because the manager and staff offer them opportunities to participate in the day to day running of the home and enable them to influence key decisions. People are confident that the home handles information about them appropriately. This is because the home has clear policies and procedures that staff follow. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 6, 7, 9 and 10. There are individual written plans of support. There is a sensible approach to everyday risk taking. Evidence: People say that the support workers offer them all the assistance they need. One of the questions in our questionnaires is do staff treat you well? All of the people say that they always are. There is a written individual plan of care for each person. These are important documents. This is because they form one of the means by which people can decide about the support they need. Also, they are a way for them to show their agreement with how this is going to be delivered. The plans are a source of information for staff. This then helps them to provide support in the right way. We looked in some detail at all of these plans. They contain information about a number of Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 12 of 29 Evidence: relevant things. For example, there is information about how to help the people say what they want and about how to support them in managing parts of how they go about things. There is stuff about how to help them with practical things such as getting dressed and using the bathroom. We spoke with two of the support workers about what is in these plans. They have a good knowledge of the needs and wishes of the people concerned. Unfortunately, the plans are written in a sort of management style. There are also quite alot of papers to fish through. This is all a bit long winded and the people who live in the Service might find it a bit boring. This is a shame because the plans are about them. They are much more likely to be completely right and up to date when people have a real sense of ownership of them. With this in mind the Registered Provider is going to re-write them using a much more user-friendly style. We think that this will be a very useful thing to do. She hopes to complete this by 1 June 2009. All of the people who live in the Service are helped to manage their financial affairs either by their families or by by the local authority. This involves keeping a track of money coming in for them and then paying their bills. The Registered Provider does not get involved in any of this side of things. This is a good idea because it helps to avoid any conflict of interests. However, the staff do hold small amounts of money for each person. They do this so that it doesnt get lost and so that they always have enough to buy the everyday things that they want. Staff keep a record of the various transactions involved to make sure that everything is above board. We checked some bits of these records to make sure that the system is working okay. For example, we looked to see if there are receipts for things said to have been bought for people and there are. We also checked that the cash balance held for one person matches what the records say should be there. It does. People are helped to not to take unreasonable risks. For example, all of the people concerned find it a bit difficult to cross busy roads on their own. So a support worker goes with them when they are out and about in the neighbourhood. Things are not over-the-top and so people are still free to do things that they want to. For example, helping out in the kitchen. There are written plans that say what potential risk is being considered and what needs to be done. Again, the information is presented in a management style. We think that much more can be done to make it interesting and user friendly. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 13 of 29 Lifestyle These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: Each person is treated as an individual and the care home is responsive to his or her race, culture, religion, age, disability, gender and sexual orientation. They can take part in activities that are appropriate to their age and culture and are part of their local community. The care home supports people to follow personal interests and activities. People are able to keep in touch with family, friends and representatives and the home supports them to have appropriate personal, family and sexual relationships. People are as independent as they can be, lead their chosen lifestyle and have the opportunity to make the most of their abilities. Their dignity and rights are respected in their daily life. People have healthy, well-presented meals and snacks, at a time and place to suit them. People have opportunities to develop their social, emotional, communication and independent living skills. This is because the staff support their personal development. People choose and participate in suitable leisure activities. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. People can do things that interest them. They are helped to keep in touch with their families. They can spend their days as they wish. Good quality meals are served. Evidence: People are free to do things that interest them. All of them go along to the local day opportunities service. There they can do lots of things such as craft work and literacy things. Other things they do involve helping out at home. For example, by keeping their bedrooms clean. They also help out with shopping. In addition to these work things, each person does a number of fun things. For example, they go out together and with a support worker to restaurants and to the Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 14 of 29 Evidence: cinema. The Assessment says that the range of work and fun things to do will be kept under active review. This is so that people can have the chance to do new and different things. People say that the pace of daily life in the Service is relaxed and unhurried. When we were there all of them had their lunch at a local restaurant and they came back to tell us enthusiastically about all of the things they had done in town that morning. People are helped to keep in touch with members of their families. Family members and friends are welcome to call to the Service at any reasonable time. Family members say that they are made welcome whenever they call to the Service. They also like the way that the Registered Provider keeps in touch with them to let them know how things are going. People say that they get good quality meals and that they have enough to eat. The menu is arranged informally. People say what meals they want and then they go and shop with the support workers for what they need. We looked at the records of who is having what meals. We think that people are having a reasonably balanced diet. The Registered Provider says that people are encouraged to eat lots of fruit. We saw a large bowl of fruit in the kitchen that people can dip into as they want. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 15 of 29 Personal and healthcare support These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People receive personal support from staff in the way they prefer and want. Their physical and emotional health needs are met because the home has procedures in place that staff follow. If people take medicine, they manage it themselves if they can. If they cannot manage their medicine, the care home supports them with it in a safe way. If people are approaching the end of their life, the care home will respect their choices and help them to feel comfortable and secure. They, and people close to them, are reassured that their death will be handled with sensitivity, dignity and respect, and take account of their spiritual and cultural wishes. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 18, 19 and 20. People are helped in ways that are right for them. They are helped to stay well. There are safe systems to manage medicines. Evidence: People are assisted in ways that are right for them. For example, some people need more personal space than do others. Or they have different interests. Support workers are courteous in their manner and they respect each persons individuality. For example, one person needs quite alot of help to get going in the morning. Support workers know this and they give the person gentle but clear prompts so that they make the most of their day and dont hang around too much. People are confident that they can rely upon support workers to be there when they are needed and to be approachable. We observed support workers giving people the time they need to express themselves. They then respond in a helpful manner to their requests. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 16 of 29 Evidence: People are helped to stay healthy. Support workers note when someone is not well and they make sure that medical assistance is obtained. Since our last visit to the Service, people have been supported to see their family doctors and other medical personnel such as dentists. People are helped to take care of themselves. For example, one person is being helped to lose a bit of weight while another is being helped to put some on. One person takes some medication. They are helped to do this by staff. This involves medicines being ordered and stored for them. Staff then make sure that the medicines are taken at the right times and in the right way. We looked at how these arrangements are working in practice. Things are okay. There has to be a record kept of each time a medicine is taken. At the moment these records are being completed by support workers. The form they use is a bit complicated with lots of tiny boxes to fiddle about with. We think that a much more user friendly version of the form could be done that would allow the person to complete their own records. The Registered Provider is going to look into this by 1 March 2009. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 17 of 29 Concerns, complaints and protection These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: If people have concerns with their care, they or people close to them, know how to complain. Their concern is looked into and action taken to put things right. The care home safeguards people from abuse, neglect and self-harm and takes action to follow up any allegations. There are no additional outcomes. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 22 and 23. There is a complaints procedure but its not user friendly. The wellbeing of people is safeguarded. Evidence: People are relaxed around the support workers. By their manner they show that they can speak openly about anything that might be on their mind. Even with this its useful to have a written complaints procedure. This is so that there is a clear account of what someone can do if theyre not happy about something. The procedure in the Service is quite detailed but its not user friendly. None of the people who live in the Service would be able to pick it up and understand it. Theres not much point in having a complaints procedure that people cant make that much sense of. The Registered Provider is now going to do a more straightforward version that people are likely to find interesting and helpful. She is going to do this by 1 March 2009. The Registered Provider says that she has not received any complaints or even any grumbles since we were last in the Service. We havent had any either. She says that if any are received in the future they will be sorted out as quickly as possible. This is so that anything that needs to be put right will be so. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 18 of 29 Evidence: People say that they feel safe living in 26 Seabrook Road. The Registered Provider has a written policy and procedure that tells support workers what to do if they become concerned about someones wellbeing. For example, if someone is being bullied or having their freedom limited without good cause. We spoke with two support workers about this matter. They are aware of what to look out for and who to contact if they become concerned. They say that they havent seen or heard anything to worry them. Indeed, they are confident that the people who live in the Service are safe and are well supported. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 19 of 29 Environment These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People stay in a safe and well-maintained home that is homely, clean, comfortable, pleasant and hygienic. People stay in a home that has enough space and facilities for them to lead the life they choose and to meet their needs. The home makes sure they have the right specialist equipment that encourages and promotes their independence. Their room feels like their own, it is comfortable and they feel safe when they use it. People have enough privacy when using toilets and bathrooms. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 24 and 30. People live in a comfortable setting that promotes their independence. The kitchen is clean and well equipped. There is a separate laundry. Evidence: The accommodation is decorated and furnished to a normal homely standard. There is a welcoming atmosphere like youd expect to find in anyones home. People say their home is kept warm enough for them. They can use their bedrooms whenever they want to and we saw people doing this. One person was re-arranging their DVDs and another person was busy setting up their laptop. Each of the bedrooms feels quite different. They very much reflect the interests and the choices of the people in them. The premises are fitted with smoke alarms that give an ordinary domestic level of fire protection. We understand that the Kent Fire and Rescue Service says that the fire safety measures in place meet the relevant national standard. The Registered Provider Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 20 of 29 Evidence: has prepared a fire risk assessment. This has been done to ensure that the fire safety system continues to work as intended. The assessment says that things are okay. The assessment isnt that detailed and so we have asked the Registered Provider to contact the fire people. This is so that she can check that its got enough information. She is going to do this by 1 February 2009. The local Department of Environmental Health has not called to the Service for some years. This is because its only small and so its considered to be a normal household. We looked at the kitchen. Its neat and clean. Sensible steps are taken to promote hygiene. For example, staff know about the importance of washing hands in particular if theyve been doing other things such as being in the laundry. The laundry is has a washing machine and a dryer. The laundry arrangements work well. Each person has an adequate wardrobe of clean and presentable clothes they can choose to wear. There are new regulations that have been introduced to ensure that used water doesnt leak back into the main pipe-work. The Registered Provider is going to check with the local water supply company to make sure that she meets whats needed. This will be done by 1 March 2009. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 21 of 29 Staffing These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People have safe and appropriate support as there are enough competent, qualified staff on duty at all times. They have confidence in the staff at the home because checks have been done to make sure that they are suitable. People’s needs are met and they are supported because staff get the right training, supervision and support they need from their managers. People are supported by an effective staff team who understand and do what is expected of them. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 32, 33, 34 and 35. There are enough staff on duty to make sure that people get the support they need. Security checks are completed on staff. Support workers know what they are doing. Evidence: There is always someone on duty whenever any of the people who live in the Service are at home. We looked at the roster to see if the various shifts are being filled reliably. We found that they are. There is only a very small staff team. This is good because it means that support workers can really get to know each other well. This then helps them provide reliable help to those who need it. The Assessment recognises that its very important all of the support workers are honest people who can be trusted to be around the people who live in the Service. With this in mind, the Registered Provider does a number of security checks. For example, she makes sure that they are who they say they are and then she does a police check. We looked at the personnel files of two support workers who have been appointed since out last inspection. The files are neat and organised. The main security checks have been completed. However, there are gaps in the employment history for Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 22 of 29 Evidence: Support Worker A. This means that we cant be completely sure that all of the necessary references have been obtained. The Registered Provider is going to look into this to make sure that nothing has been missed. She is going to do this by 1 February 2009. When you work in a residential care setting theres a lot you have to know about. New support workers receive introductory training before they work on their own. This training covers a number of important things. For example, the support each person needs and things like how to help people keep safe when they are out and about in the local community. Other things are to do with health and safety in general. Such as how to work the Services fire safety system. After their introduction to the Service, support workers have extra training in a number of important subjects. For example, in first aid and in food hygiene. In addition to this, most of the support workers either have or are studying for a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ). This is important because the training is designed to help staff provide people with support in ways that are right for them. When we spoke with support workers we asked them about points of detail to do with their work. We wanted to see what their knowledge is. They have a sound understanding of important things such how people prefer to express themselves. We saw them putting this knowledge into use. For example, they check out with people that they have understood them correctly. They dont just assume it. They also know about how some people need special reassurance when they are anxious. Again, we saw them helping people to manage okay if they become distressed. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 23 of 29 Conduct and management of the home These are the outcomes that people staying in care homes should experience. They reflect the things that people have said are important to them: People have confidence in the care home because it is run and managed appropriately. People’s opinions are central to how the home develops and reviews their practice, as the home has appropriate ways of making sure they continue to get things right. The environment is safe for people and staff because health and safety practices are carried out. People get the right support from the care home because the manager runs it appropriately, with an open approach that makes them feel valued and respected. They are safeguarded because the home follows clear financial and accounting procedures, keeps records appropriately and makes sure staff understand the way things should be done. This is what people staying in this care home experience: Judgement: People using this service experience good quality outcomes in this area. We have made this judgement using a range of evidence, including a visit to this service. Standards 37, 39 and 42. The Service is reliably managed. People are asked what they think about how things are going, but this could be more developed. Peoples health and safety is taken care of. Evidence: The Registered Provider knows whats going on in the Service. When we ask her questions she gives us answers without having to fiddle about looking at bits of paper. She has both of the formal qualifications that we expect. These are important. This is because they are intended to help managers ensure that people receive high quality residential care services. Various things are done to help staff work as a team.There are handover meetings at the beginning and end of each shift. These are when support workers say how things are going and what needs to be done on the next shift. Also, there are staff meetings. We looked at the records of the most recent meeting. A number of things that make a difference to peoples quality of life were discussed. For Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 24 of 29 Evidence: example, the support workers talked about the need to keep an eye on one persons health so that they can let the doctor know how they are doing. Another thing they discussed was the need to encourage people to eat some fruit and vegetables as often as possible. The Assessment says how important it is that people are asked their views about how well they think things are going in their home. There are monthly house meetings when everyone gets together for a chat. We looked at the records of the last few meetings. A number of subjects were discussed. For example, what meals to have and the sorts of social things people might like to try. In addition to this, the Registered Provider asks relatives to complete yearly satisfaction questionnaires. We looked at two of the returned questionnaires. The comments show that the parents involved are very happy with the support provided in the Service. One parent came to see us when we were in the Service. They were very positive about the Service. They summarise this by saying, I am really relieved (they are) here because I know (they are) safe and well cared for. I am completely confident that (they are) happy and that Sharon (the Registered Provider) will keep me in touch with me about how things are going. However, members of staff are not included in this process. Even in a small service this is a shame because they have a detailed knowledge of how things work in practice. The Registered Provider is going to develop the present arrangement so that in future members of staff are asked how things are going in the same way that relatives are. Also, she is going to summarise what everyone has said about the Service. This is so that each person who lives there can be told what has been said. Also, this will make it easier to let them know what is going to be done to respond to any improvements that might have been suggested. All of this is going to be done in time for us to be told about it when the Registered Provider sends us her next Annual Quality Assurance Assessment in 2009. Earlier we mentioned that that the Service only has a domestic level of fire safety protection. This is because of its small size. There are smoke detectors in the hallways and landings. At the moment, these are not being checked regularly to make sure that they are working okay. We have asked the Registered provider to check this out with the Kent Fire and Rescue Service. This is to see if regular checks should now be done. She is going to do this by 1 January 2009. If any checks are recommended they will be started by then. There are regular fire drills. This is where the smoke detectors are sounded and support workers rehearse what they will do if there is a fire emergency for real. This is Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 25 of 29 Evidence: important because the level of fire safety protection provided for the people who live in the Service largely depends upon staff doing the right things at the right times. At the moment these drills are not unannounced. This reduces some of their value because support workers need to know how they will react in a real life situation. The Registered Provider is going to sort this out so that in future the fire drills are held without too much warning. In addition to the drills, each support worker does training each year about fire safety things. This is not quite as detailed as it needs to be and its not frequent enough. The Registered Provider is going to sort this out by 1 January 2009. The gas-fired appliances have been certified that are being used in the Service have been inspected in the last year. The engineer says that they are in good working order. The Registered Provider says that things such as the fuse box and electrical sockets have been checked over and are safe to use. The certificate confirming this was not to hand and so we cant confirm what we have been told. We have asked the Registered Provider to write to us giving us some more details about the certificate. She is going to do this by 1 February 2009. The Registered Provider says that there have not been any significant accidents in the Service in the past year. The people who live in the Service and support workers confirm this. The Registered Provider checks the place over every now and then to make sure that things are as they should be. She looks at sensible things such as carpets that might cause someone to trip up. Or sharp edges that might catch someone as they walk by. She says that there are no obvious hazards in the place and we didnt notice any either. Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 26 of 29 Are there any outstanding requirements from the last inspection? Yes £ No R Outstanding statutory requirements These are requirements that were set at the previous inspection, but have still not been met. They say what the registered person had to do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Care Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 27 of 29 Requirements and recommendations from this inspection: Immediate requirements: These are immediate requirements that were set on the day we visited this care home. The registered person had to meet these within 48 hours. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Statutory requirements These requirements set out what the registered person must do to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Care Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must do this within the timescales we have set. No. Standard Regulation Requirement Timescale for action Recommendations These recommendations are taken from the best practice described in the National Minimum Standards and the registered person(s) should consider them as a way of improving their service. No. Refer to Standard Good Practice Recommendations Care Homes for Adults (18-65 years) Page 28 of 29 Helpline: Telephone: 0845 015 0120 or 0191 233 3323 Textphone: 0845 015 2255 or 0191 233 3588 Email: enquiries@csci.gsi.gov.uk Web: www.csci.org.uk We want people to be able to access this information. If you would like a summary in a different format or language please contact our helpline or go to our website. Copyright © (2008) Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, free of charge, in any format or medium provided that it is not used for commercial gain. 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