Blackburn & District Supported Housing Limited received an overall Good rating across all five key questions at its first inspection under new registration in January 2023. Recommendations were made regarding recruitment robustness, medicines record-keeping, and strengthening quality assurance systems, but no regulatory breaches were identified.
Concerns (9)
moderate
Record keeping
: “Paperwork provided by the pharmacy did not always match medicines quantities that had been dispensed... People's medicine records did not have their photographs and date of birth on.”
moderateMedication management: “Records relating to medicines needed improving... medicines audit and recruitment process could be more robust to identify the issues we found in the safe domain.”
moderateGovernance: “Quality assurance systems were in place and audits were taking place. However, we found the medicines audit and recruitment process could be more robust.”
minorStaff training: “No staff had received a recent appraisal at the time of the inspection. The registered manager told us they will look to implement appraisals.”
minorSupervision / appraisal: “Staff were supported through regular supervisions, though no staff had received a recent appraisal at the time of the inspection.”
minorIncident learning: “There were limited examples of lessons learned, however, during the inspection the registered manager improved documentation to support a more robust lessons learned practice.”
minorInfection control: “Some peoples clothes were being washed together... The registered managers created a risk assessment during our inspection to consider and mitigate any risks.”
minorConsent / capacity: “A number of consent forms were in place for various aspects of support. However, consent to care forms were not in place.”
minorCare planning: “We found some examples where people's support around epilepsy could have been more detailed. The registered manager told us they were working to improve this.”
Strengths
· Staffing levels were safe, with staff reporting adequate or even surplus staffing at times.
· Medicines were safely stored and administered, with regular medication reviews following STOMP guidance.
· People were supported to have maximum choice and control, with staff working in the least restrictive way possible.
· Strong person-centred care with detailed care plans reflecting individual preferences and backgrounds.
· People supported to access community activities, holidays, and maintain relationships with family and friends.