Care Home: Self Unlimited Rowde

Similar services:

• 2 Perhaver Park
• The Vicarage
• St George`s
• 5 Seafield Road
• Radfords
• Honeybourne House
• 32 Beaumont Way

Annual service review Name of Service: Self Unlimited Rowde 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?   Yes 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 6 0 2 2 0 1 0 Annual Service Review Page 1 of 7 Information about the service Address of service: Furlong Close Rowde Devizes Wiltshire SN10 2TQ 01380725455 01380729030 Telephone number: Fax number: Email address: Provider web address:   www.selfunlimited.co.uk Self Unlimited Name of registered provider(s): Conditions of registration: Category(ies) : learning disability Conditions of registration: Number of places (if applicable): Under 65 Over 65 36 0 The number of service users receiving residential care and accommodated in the bungalows known as Alder, Fern, Hawthorn and Myrtle must not exceed 9 in each bungalow. 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 The service is run by the national registered charity, Self Unlimited. The site is purpose-built and owned by the provider. There are four bungalows, each with nine registered places. Some of the places are provided in semi-independent flats. Also on site are day facilities which provide work and skills training for people that live in the bungalows and for others who attend on a day basis. The four bungalows, known as Alder, Fern, Hawthorn and Myrtle, are run separately by house managers, each with their own staff team. One manager [a different person] has overall responsibility for the residential services and is subject to registration. The facilities in each house include a lounge, a kitchen/dining room, and a utility room. Administrative support for the residential and day services is provided by staff who work in an office building. Also Annual Service Review Page 2 of 7 on site are a training facility for staff, and some staff accommodation. Fees charged for care and accommodation vary depending on each service users assessed needs. Some service users have additionally funded hours for one-to-one support, via their individual contracting arrangements. 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 the information we have received about the service, or asked for from it, since the previous key inspection in March 2008. This included: The Annual Quality Assurance Assessment [AQAA] that the service sent to us. This is a self-assessment that focuses on how well outcomes are being met for people that use the service, and how the service intends to develop. It also provides some statistical information. Notifications the service has sent to us about significant events affecting people living in the home. Surveys returned to us by five people who live at Furlong Close, four members of staff, and five health professionals who have experience of working with the service. The previous key inspection report, the previous annual service review [March 2009], and our inspection activity with other services provided by Self Unlimited in Wiltshire. 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 its services are provided and considers how they may be further developed. The AQAA gave evidence of different ways in which they have identified and worked with peoples diverse needs. The service takes account of feedback that they obtain directly from the people that receive a service, and from their supporters. For example, the AQAA refers to a regular family and friends forum. It states we have listened to families concerns and revised procedures on communication with families. An annual satisfaction survey is conducted, and there are regular meetings for people living in the home. The AQAA gave examples of individuals who have made progress in different aspects of independent living skills. For example, active work was undertaken to support more people to be able to use public transport independently. More people were involved in college courses and various forms of community involvement. Some people were being supported to pursue the possibility of moving on to supported living environments. Support planning was based on person centred principles. There was ongoing and developing liaison with a wide variety of external groups and service providers. Some examples were given of engaging external advocates to support people through individual issues. At the same time, the service acknowledged that they were working with some people that presented more complex needs, especially in terms of behavioural expression or factors associated with ageing. Whilst they gave evidence of strategic planning to meet such needs, observations we received through our postal survey suggested actual support to people within the service has not been consistently adjusted to take account Annual Service Review Page 4 of 7 of increased needs. For example, a mental health professional wrote they frequently seek advice but have difficulty putting it into practice. The service was well suited to people with a mild learning disability; with the presence of individuals with more complex needs, staff need to develop the skills to manage them. There is a need for improved communication between staff so they can consistently follow management programmes. The organisation has expected considerable support from the community team. This amount of input is not sustainable, especially with frequent staff changes. A mental health professional from another agency wrote in similar terms: The service is good at seeking external support for service users, however some aspects of the service do not consistently follow advice. The service works well with individuals who do not have complex issues. The service would benefit from staff having a better understanding of the individual needs of people with a learning disability. It would help if there were improved communication between staff and if staff had an increased awareness of care plans. The service has not benefited from a stable staff team, although the AQAA reported staff retention had been better in the past year. They had increased their availability of bank staff, so as to make less use of staff from other agencies. Less than 50 per cent of permanent support staff had achieved the baseline level 2 NVQ [National Vocational Qualification] in care, which may indicate a high proportion of recently recruited staff. One of the mental health professionals responding to our survey wrote the service has experienced a high turnover in staff and has a number of young, inexperienced staff members, which is a contributing factor to the difficulties experienced with the service. Another health professional wrote They need a stable staff team with experience; there are a lot of changes. A further similar comment was there appears to be a huge turnover of staff which obviously impacts on consistency of care and relationship building. A GP who answered our survey identified strengths on the part of individual staff, but also noted poor communication between them. They had been frustrated by messages not being passed on, or staff members supporting people to appointments but with no knowledge of the reason for the appointment. There had been a number of missed clinic appointments because staff were unaware of the contents of letters sent to people living in the home. In their survey returns to us, members of staff also complained of poor communication within the service. Only one of the four indicated that they received regular supervision, two indicated sometimes and one, never. None of the four considered their induction to have been satisfactory. They were divided about the value and quality of further training provided. None of the responding staff considered there were always enough staff available, and two wrote additionally that they saw recruitment of more staff as something the home could do better. The AQAA recorded they had received five complaints during the year, of which four were upheld. We are aware that one of the complaints, which was sent initially to us, was anonymous, thus restricting the scope of investigation. The service makes appropriate referrals to local safeguarding procedures, and co-operates with any resultant investigations. The five people living in the home that sent us surveys indicated they knew who to go to if they were unhappy. Annual Service Review Page 5 of 7 The surveys returned by people living in the home had each been facilitated by staff of the service. It would be preferable if family members or other external advocates were asked to support this task. The surveys indicated broad satisfaction with the experience of living in the home. One added comment was that more staff availability would allow for more support to involvement in activities, especially at weekends. Another person indicated more staff as a way in which the service could improve. The service has not demonstrated since the previous annual service review that all matters arising have been managed well. People continue to achieve good outcomes, but there are indications from a number of significant external professionals that staffing issues, in particular, are compromising the quality and safety of support that people receive. 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 March 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 19th March 2011. We will consider the registration of the service, under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, between April and October 2010. 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. 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. If you would like a copy of the findings in a different format or language please contact our helpline or go to our website. © Care Quality Commission 2010 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in any format or medium for non-commercial purposes, provided that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. The source should be acknowledged, by showing the publication title and © Care Quality Commission 2010. Annual Service Review Page 7 of 7 - Please note that this information is included on www.bestcarehome.co.uk under license from the regulator. Re-publishing this information is in breach of the terms of use of that website. Discrete codes and changes have been inserted throughout the textual data shown on the site that will provide incontrovertable proof of copying in the event this information is re-published on other websites. The policy of www.bestcarehome.co.uk is to use all legal avenues to pursue such offenders, including recovery of costs. You have been warned!