Care Home: Merlin`s Barrow

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Annual service review Name of Service: Merlin`s Barrow The quality rating for this care home is: The rating was made on: 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 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: Roy Gregory Date of this annual service review: 2 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 Annual Service Review Page 1 of 6 Information about the service Address of service: 10 George Lane Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 4BT 01672562691 01672562510 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address:   Name of registered provider(s): Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : learning disability Conditions of registration: Innovations Wiltshire Ltd Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 4 0 The maximum number of service users who may be accommodated is 4. The registered person may provide the following category of service only: Care home only - Code PC to service users of either gender whose primary care needs on admission to the home are within the following category: Learning disability (Code 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 Merlins Barrow is a semi-detached house within close walking distance of the centre of Marlborough. It offers single bedroom accommodation for four younger adults with a learning disability. People share a kitchen/dining room, sitting room and bathroom and toilets. The house has gardens to front and rear. On-street parking and a pay car park are nearby. There are bus services from Marlborough to Swindon and Salisbury. People are given a service users guide that gives useful information about living at the home, and the facilities offered. Merlins Barrow is provided by Innovations (Wiltshire) Annual Service Review Page 2 of 6 Ltd., based in Marlborough. The company runs three other care homes in the area, and a domiciliary care agency. Annual Service Review Page 3 of 6 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 we have received about the service, or asked for from it, since the previous annual service review. This included: The Annual Quality Assurance Assessment [AQAA] that the service sent to us. This is a self-assessment that focuses on how outcomes are being met for people that use the service, and how the service intends to develop. It also contains some statistical information. Notifications the service has sent to us about significant events affecting people living in the home. Discussion with the manager and provider regarding possible future plans for Innovations services, including Merlins Barrow. Surveys returned to us by two people who live at Merlins Barrow, and three members of staff. Our inspection activity at other Innovations services, which has enabled us to assess their staff recruitment and training practices, and to see a computer suite and other facilities they have created for users of all of their services, at the company office in Marlborough. The previous key inspection report [February 2008], and the previous annual service review [March 2009]. What has this told us about the service? The service sent us their annual quality assurance assessment [AQAA] when we asked for it. The AQAA gave all the required information. It showed the management have ways of monitoring how the service is provided and considers how it may be further developed. They take account of feedback that they obtain directly from the people that receive a service. For example, the AQAA refers to regular meetings between people and their key workers, and this was confirmed in one of the staff surveys we received. The AQAA gave evidence of different ways in which they have identified and worked with peoples diverse needs. There is an annual customer satisfaction survey. An exciting development, which we have seen on inspecting other Innovations services, is the creation of multi-media support plans that people being supported are directly involved in. The company has taken on a part time development director, who has the expertise and time to devote to such projects and to maintain an open dialogue with contracting authorities. The AQAA expresses a determination that the service should be driven by choices and decisions made by the people being supported. For example, one of them has been involved in staff selection. There are regular informal house meetings. People choose their respective menus weekly. They make extensive use of local community Annual Service Review Page 4 of 6 resources, including the leisure centre. The service has been advocating for more local availability of college course options. Innovations have created an activity resource within their offices, including a computer suite for use by people supported. Staff and people living at Merlins Barrow have expressed a wish for an in-house broadband computer, which was under consideration within the AQAA. Changes have been made to the environment of the home to improve it for people living there, such as increasing the outside sitting space and levelling a path. The service benefits from a stable staff team, who receive regular supervision and training updates. They have increased training in signalong. A senior support worker role has been established. The company is able to supply its own bank workers at any time of staff shortage. In survey returns we received from three members of staff, there were no negative comments, aside from one person who thought there was a need for improved communication between staff in the home. But anther person wrote that anything that needs passing on will be passed on very effectively. All staff projected enthusiasm for the person-centred approach in which they have been trained, some giving examples of outcomes as a result. One wrote Merlins Barrow is a very happy house. There is always lots of laughter and fun; when people come to Merlins they always say that it feels a very relaxed house. The people living in the home, who returned surveys to us, were each assisted to do so by close relatives, who themselves are regular visitors at the home. There were no negative comments, apart from a mention of a crack in my bedroom that needed mending. In answer to what does the home do well?, the responses were respectively, lets me live my life, and supports me well and helps me with my diet. People have experience of employment and involvement in community advocacy groups. The service has demonstrated since the previous annual service review that all matters arising have been managed well. People continue to achieve good outcomes. What are we going to do as a result of this annual service review? We have changed our inspection plan and this Annual Service Review replaces the key inspection that was planned for February 2010 at our previous Annual Service Review. Subject to any changes in registration and inspection practice following implementation of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, our current plan is to do a key inspection by 21st February 2011. However, we may inspect the service at any time in response to concerns about the quality of the service or the safety of the people using the service. 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