Archived: St Martin's Haven

At the last inspection on 10 April 2015, the service was rated Good. However, we found one breach of regulation at that inspection. Consent was not always obtained from people to help them to manage their finances. The service had also restricted a person’s freedom without formal assessment of their capacity to make decisions. At this inspection, we found improvements were made at the service to meet the regulations inspected. At this inspection, the service remained Good.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People gave staff their consent to receive care. People had information about their care and support needs in a format they understood. This enabled people to make informed choices about the care and support they received and to maintain their independence. Staff understood how to care for people in line with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. People remained able to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Policies and systems in the service support this practice. All people living at the service had a door key in line with their DoLS authorisation. This enabled people to leave and return to the service as they wished.

Staff understood how to keep people safe from harm and abuse. People’s money was managed in safe way. Records showed that people accessed their money as they chose and staff supported people with money management if they required this support. Staff continued to update their knowledge of safeguarding procedures. The registered provider had established and embedded safeguarding processes that in the service.

Risks to people’s health and well-being continued to be identified. Staff managed and reduced those risks by following the guidance in place in people’s risk management plans. People’s needs continued to be assessed and care was delivered to meet them.

Medicines continued to be managed in a safe way for people. There were embedded systems in place to ensure staff administered, ordered and disposed of medicines safely.

People told us that there was enough staff on duty to support them. We saw during the inspection that staff supported people when they needed them. The registered provider followed safe recruitment processes. This ensured suitable people came to work at the service with people once their pre-employment check were returned.

Staff continued to receive regular support from managers. There were training, appraisal and supervision systems embedded within the service. Staff reviewed their development needs and managers reviewed staff performance during these meetings.

People’s nutritional needs continued to be met by staff. Meals met people’s preferences and nutritional needs. Staff supported people with making a meal during the day. People had access to food and drink during the day to meet their needs.

People’s health and well-being needs were maintained through continued access to health care services. Staff made referrals to health care professionals for advice e when people’s care needs changed.

People told us that staff were respectful to them. Staff engaged well with people and demonstrated they were compassionate and kind. Decisions continued to be made with people, relatives and a health care professional. Dignity and privacy continued to be maintained for people.

People continued to have an assessment of their needs and care and support implemented to meet those needs. People continued to access social activities of their choice and maintained relationships that mattered to them. People were able to access their local community and take part in activities they enjoyed.

People had access to the complaint process. There were systems embedded in the service that supported people to make a complaint about the service if they were not satisfied about an aspect of their care.

The service continued to be managed by the registered manager. There was management oversight of the service and systems in place to manage the service and staff. Staff were complimentary about the registered manager and felt respected by them.

The registered manager continued to inform the Care Quality Commission of incidents that occurred. People continued to live in a service that was routinely reviewed and monitored. The service ensured action was taken promptly to ensure the quality of care was of a good standard.

We saw people were treated with dignity and respect. People were encouraged to make suggestions as to how the service was run and were able to offer suggestions for activities and social events. One person we spoke to said "I enjoyed going to the sea and would like to go again".

We found peoples views were taken into account when their care and support plans were being developed. One person told us "I'm asked what I want and tell them". We saw risk assessments were in place to ensure each person was kept safe. Support plans and risk assessments were reviewed monthly or when necessary to ensure each person continued to be supported as they wished and they were kept safe.

We noted records were not being filed appropriately and were in disarray but this would not necessarily put people at risk.

Staff were trained to deliver the care and support people who used the service needed. They were encouraged to undertake further training for their personal and professional development.

At our visit on 4 March 2013, we saw that the provider had taken steps to ensure that everyone using the service experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.

We also found that there were effective systems to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received, and to identify, assess and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people who use the service and others.