Inspection on 02/10/06 for 3 Prince of Wales Road

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

The home provides a very pleasant and comfortable environment in which residents can live. Individuals are encouraged to personalise their own rooms with their own furniture and personal belongings. Residents are given opportunities to make decisions about their lives, with assistance as needed. Each resident has regular one to one sessions with his or her "key worker group". Residents` relatives, representatives, are all where possible consulted on aspects of the home. Support/care planning documentation is of a good standard and each resident`s file contains a detailed action plan with clearly defined goals. There is a motivated and established staff team that consists of nurses and support workers. Medication is well managed in the home with relevant procedures in pace for the administration of medicines. There is good support for the home by the provider organisation Dorset Residential Homes with effective monitoring in place. Recruitment procedures are thorough with all necessary security checks in place to ensure the protection of residents. Risk assessments are in place that both protect residents from harm and to ensure they are able to maintain and develop their independence. Residents are encouraged and supported to pursue a wide range of activities and two vehicles are available to transport them to different venues of their choice. The staff offer the residents choice in all aspects of their lives and encourage and support them to keep in touch with family and friends who are always welcomed to the home. The staff team are offered a wide range of training courses that includes mandatory health and safety training and specialist courses to ensure they are competent to deal with the residents` needs. Access to healthcare services is well promoted. Staff were friendly and relaxed with the inspector and were keen to discuss their work and the residents care needs. Residents live in a home, which is well run and managed.

What has improved since the last inspection?

Since the last inspection the large garden has been designed and developed to offer an attractive and stimulating place for all the residents. It has been designed to ensure it is totally accessible with a mix of wide level paths and areas laid to lawn. Raised flowerbeds have been built and sensory equipment hung in the garden. A seated area has been provided in addition to a safe area for barbeques. An area has been set aside for vegetable growing and both staff and residents spoken with are keen to establish a vegetable plot. It was a pleasure to see how the garden had been designed ensuring that all he residents could safely access it and derive pleasure from the different parts. The home has managed to maintain a good standard of care ensuring the personal, emotional and health care needs of residents continue to be met.The manager and staff have continued to attend training courses to meet the specific needs of people with learning disabilities. The environment benefits from a rolling programme of maintenance and decoration. The manager and staff are constantly looking at ways to develop the support plans to ensure they remain relevant and comprehensive and in a format that residents can genuinely contribute to.

What the care home could do better:

All staff receive training on the issues of Vulnerable Adults and their Protection and this is part of the induction training. However, following the induction there is no system in place to ensure staff receive regular up to date training and there is evidence to show that several staff need refresher training on this subject. Where possible, staff need to encourage and support all residents to sign their care /support plans and especially be involved in their financial transactions. It is recommended that a "grab sheet" be written for each resident which would have essential information concerning the individual which could then be passed to other agencies and or used if a person is suddenly admitted to hospital via A & E Services.