Summerland Support received a Good rating across all five key questions following an announced inspection in October 2016, with inspectors finding kind, well-trained staff delivering personalised, person-centred support to 27 people with learning disabilities in a supported living setting. The only minor shortcoming identified was the registered manager's occasional failure to obtain full employment histories from job applicants, which was promptly acknowledged and agreed for immediate rectification.
Concerns (1)
minorRecord keeping: “the registered manager did not always obtain a full employment history from applicants. This meant they could not discuss any gaps in the applicants work history.”
Strengths
· Kind and caring staff who knew people well, respected privacy and dignity, and supported people to live independently and achieve personal goals including paid employment.
· Robust risk assessments and management plans enabled people to safely participate in community activities, education, and leisure.
· Comprehensive staff training programme including specialist training for dementia and epilepsy, regular supervision, yearly appraisals, and thorough induction with shadow shifts.
· Strong Mental Capacity Act compliance with documented best interests decisions and respect for people's right to make unwise decisions.
· Effective quality assurance systems including regular house audits, written surveys, and a creative system ensuring staff read updated support plans.
Summerland Support received an overall Good rating across all five key questions at its April 2019 inspection, demonstrating strong person-centred care, safe medication management, and effective leadership for 32 people with learning disabilities and complex needs across five supported living houses. Minor concerns were noted regarding a capacity assessment for one person subject to restrictions, some supervision and appraisal slippage, and a gap in one staff recruitment file, all of which the registered manager agreed to address.
Concerns (3)
moderateConsent / capacity: “one person had access to certain items restricted. They were under the oversight or control of staff and were not free to leave their home unaccompanied.”
minorSupervision / appraisal: “Staff had the opportunity to discuss their training and development needs at regular supervision and appraisals, although the registered manager told us some of these had fallen behind recently.”
minorRecord keeping: “One staff members file did not contain references from a short period of time they had worked with another care agency.”
Strengths
· Strong person-centred values with people's wellbeing at the heart of service delivery
· People and relatives spoke highly of staff, describing them as 'brilliant' and 'smashing'
· Medicines managed safely with monthly audits by team leaders and trained staff only administering medicines
· Robust risk assessments with detailed care plans including specialist healthcare professional guidance
· Strong, accessible leadership with registered manager praised as 'most supportive manager I've ever had the pleasure to work with'
Quality-Statement breakdown (20)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supportedGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their care; equality and diversityGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to meet people's needs, preferences, interests and give them choice and controlGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
responsive: End of life care and supportNot rated
well-led: Planning and promoting person-centred, high-quality care and how the provider understands and acts on duty of candour responsibilityGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staff, fully considering their equality characteristicsGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careGood