This inspection was unannounced and took place on the 08 July 2016.

Lucklaw Residential Care Home was previously inspected in May 2014. One breach of legal requirements relating to staffing was found not to be met. We undertook a follow-up inspection in October 2014 and found that improvements had been made to address the breach.

Lucklaw Residential Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to four adults with complex physical and learning disabilities.

At the time of our inspection the service was accommodating four people.

The home is operated and managed by Warrington Community Living (the provider). Warrington Community Living is a registered charity and a non-profit making organisation.

Lucklaw Residential Care Home is a domestic four-bedroom bungalow in a residential area of Warrington. The premises have been adapted to accommodate the needs of people with a physical disability. There is level access throughout the bungalow with low gradient ramps to the front door and gardens.

The home has a private garden for people to relax in which is wheelchair accessible. Car parking facilities are available at the front of the property.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Lucklaw Residential Care Home. 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.

During our inspection of Lucklaw Residential Care Home we observed people living in the home to be relaxed, content and comfortable within their home environment and saw interactions between staff and people using the service to be caring, attentive, dignified and responsive to individual needs.

We saw evidence that people had undergone an assessment of their needs and that plans had been developed to ensure people received personalised care.

People had access to health care professionals and medication was ordered, stored, administered and disposed of safely by trained staff. Varied, balanced and wholesome meals and refreshments were also provided to people to ensure their nutritional and hydration needs were maintained.

Staff recruitment systems were in place and information about prospective employees had been obtained to make sure staff did not pose a risk to people using the service.

Staff had access to induction, training and supervision to develop the necessary skills and competence for their roles.

The provider had developed policies relating to the MCA (Mental Capacity Act (2005) and DoLS (Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards). The registered manager and staff understood their duty of care in relation to this protective legislation and rights of people living in the home.

Audits had been established to monitor the service and systems were in place to safeguard people from abuse and to respond to complaints.

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 14 May 2014. A breach of legal requirements was found. As a result we undertook a focused inspection on 6 October 2014 to follow up on whether action had been taken to deal with the breach.

You can read a summary of our findings from both inspections below.

Comprehensive Inspection of 14 May 2014 

Lucklaw Residential Care Home is registered to accommodate up to four adults with physical and learning disabilities. It is owned and run by Warrington Community Living, a registered charity. The home was established following the closure of a large hospital in the Warrington area in order to provide alternative accommodation.

The service is provided from a domestic four-bedroom bungalow in a residential area of Warrington. The premises have been adapted to accommodate the needs of people with a physical disability. There is level access throughout the bungalow with low gradient ramps to the front door and gardens.

There is a registered manager in place at Lucklaw Residential Care Home who has been there for three years. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and shares the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law with the provider.

We found that the staff and manager at Lucklaw Residential Care Home provided a caring service for the people who lived there and treated them with dignity and respect. People were safe and medicines were properly administered. The home provided a high standard of accommodation with appropriate adaptations for people with a disability. The staff team was relaxed and confident and led by a manager who displayed honest and caring leadership.

We found that staffing levels were not sufficient to provide the responsive service that the people who lived at Lucklaw Residential Care Home required. This was a breach of the relevant regulations which apply to this type of care. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Focused desk based review of 6 October 2014

After our inspection of 14 May 2014, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the legal requirements in relation to staffing.

We have not revisited Lucklaw Residential care Home as part of this review because the provider was able to demonstrate that it had taken action to meet the standards without the need for a visit. We therefore undertook a desk based review to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements.

We found that the provider (Warrington Community Living) had taken appropriate action to improve staffing levels. Sufficient numbers of staff were now deployed throughout the day to ensure the people using the service received care and support that was responsive to their individual needs.

During this review we visited Lucklaw and encouraged the people using the service to participate in the visit using their preferred methods of communication. Likewise, we spoke with the registered manager, a senior support worker, two support staff on duty and three relatives on the telephone. We also made observations on the standard of care provided.

We did not receive any verbal feedback on this outcome area from the people living at Lucklaw as they have non-verbal communication needs.

We spoke with three relatives to also check care was appropriately delivered. Relatives spoken with were generally complimentary of the service. For example, comments included: “I can sleep at night as I know the staff genuinely care” and “The manager and carers are very good. They keep me updated on any issues and in my opinion the care provided is great.”

The representative of one person using the service expressed concern regarding the limited opportunities to access community based activities.

The people living at Lucklaw were observed to be relaxed in their home environment and in the company of the staff team. Staff were seen to carry out their duties in an attentive, respectful and caring manner during the visit.

During this review we visited Lucklaw and encouraged the people using the service to participate in the visit using their preferred methods of communication. Likewise, we spoke with the registered manager, three support staff on-duty and three relatives on the telephone. We also made observations on the standard of care provided.

We did not receive any verbal feedback on this outcome area from the people living at Lucklaw as they have non-verbal communication needs.

We spoke with three relatives to also check care was appropriately delivered. Relatives spoken with were generally complimentary of the service. For example, comments included: The staff are excellent, caring, polite and professional”; “My daughter receives very good care and is looked after well” and “I have no concerns about the standard of care provided at Lucklaw.”

The representative of one person using the service expressed concern regarding the limited opportunities to access community based activities. Likewise, another relative expressed concern about how the service has responded to people requiring emergency hospital admissions during the night.

The people living at Lucklaw were observed to be relaxed in their home environment and in the company of the staff team. Staff were seen to carry out their duties in an attentive, respectful and caring manner during the visit.

No direct feedback was received from the people using the service or their representatives in relation to any outcome areas covered by this report.

Lucklaw Residential Care Home is registered to accommodate up to four adults with physical and learning disabilities. It is owned and run by Warrington Community Living, a registered charity. The home was established following the closure of a large hospital in the Warrington area in order to provide alternative accommodation.

The service is provided from a domestic four-bedroom bungalow in a residential area of Warrington. The premises have been adapted to accommodate the needs of people with a physical disability. There is level access throughout the bungalow with low gradient ramps to the front door and gardens.

There is a registered manager in place at Lucklaw Residential Care Home who has been there for three years. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and shares the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law with the provider.

We found that the staff and manager at Lucklaw Residential Care Home provided a caring service for the people who lived there and treated them with dignity and respect. People were safe and medicines were properly administered. The home provided a high standard of accommodation with appropriate adaptations for people with a disability. The staff team was relaxed and confident and led by a manager who displayed honest and caring leadership.

We found that staffing levels were not sufficient to provide the responsive service that the people who lived at Lucklaw Residential Care Home required. This was a breach of the relevant regulations which apply to this type of care. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.