About the service:

Magnolia Lodge is a care home which is registered to provide care (without nursing) for up to ten people with a learning disability and some with associated physical disabilities. The home is a large detached building situated on the outskirts of Reading. There were nine people living in the home at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People’s safety was upheld by staff who had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable adults and health and safety policies and procedures.

There were enough staff on duty at all times to meet people’s diverse, individual needs safely and effectively.

Staff were well-trained and able to meet people’s health and well-being needs.

People were encouraged to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The committed, attentive and knowledgeable staff team provided care with kindness and respect. Individualised care planning ensured people’s equality and diversity was fully respected.

The registered manager was well regarded and respected. The quality of care the service provided continued to be reviewed and improved, as necessary.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 16 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

This inspection took place on the 21 July 2016 and was unannounced.

Magnolia Lodge is a care home which is registered to provide care (without nursing) for up to ten people with a learning disability. The home is a large detached building situated on a main road on the outskirts of Reading. It is situated near to local amenities and public transport. There were three people living in the home at the time of the inspection.

There was a registered manager for the service. 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.

The recruitment and selection process ensured people were supported by staff of good character. There was a sufficient amount of qualified and trained staff to meet people’s needs safely. Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns they had about the care and welfare of people to protect them from abuse.

People were provided with effective care from a core of dedicated staff who had received support through supervision, staff meetings and training. People’s care plans detailed how they wanted their needs to be met. Risk assessments identified risks associated with personal and specific behavioural and/or health related issues. They helped to promote people’s independence whilst minimising the risks. Staff treated people with kindness and respect and had regular contact with people’s families to make sure they were fully informed about the care and support their relative received.

The service had taken the necessary action to ensure they were working in a way which recognised and maintained people’s rights. They understood the relevance of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and consent issues which related to the people in their care.

Staff were supported to receive the training and development they needed to care for and support people’s individual needs. People received very good quality care. The provider had taken steps to periodically assess and monitor the quality of service that people received. This was undertaken by designated staff under the supervision of the home manager and the deputy manager. Quality was monitored through internal audits, care reviews and requesting feedback from people and their representatives.

We spoke with two people who told us they were "happy" living at the home, they told us the staff are "brilliant" and they "do a lot for us". They told us that there were a good choice of activities at the home and they were supported to go out to day centres and to visit their families. People told us the manager listened to what people wanted and they felt they were asked regularly for their thoughts about how to improve the home and the care provided.

We spoke with two staff who told us they enjoyed their work and felt they were given the right training to perform their role. The staff we spoke with demonstrated good knowledge of caring for people with complex needs and were able to tell us about various strategies which kept people safe and promoted their welfare. We observed the staff with people and saw that they were respectful of people's wishes and we saw that they spoke to people using language people could understand.

We reviewed the care records for three people and saw that a wide variety of assessments were performed that gave good consideration to the individual needs of people and demonstrated the involvement of people with planning and developing their own care.

The home appointed a new manager in July 2012 and restructuring of the staff team had taken place. We spoke with staff and looked at staff training records and also shift patterns worked by staff. We found staff attended most of the training provided by the provider and received an induction prior to commencing their role independently.

People told us they were happy with the staff team and services provided. One person said, “New care staff initially shadowed staff and now do my personal care perfect”. Another person said, “You would like living here”.

The staff rota showed there were enough staff to meet people’s needs and identified additional domestic staff employed to promote a clean and hygienic environment.

The home had a good system of quality monitoring, but had put people at risk as they had failed to use the systems they have to monitor health and safety within the home.

All of the residents who were able to express a view told us they were happy living at the home and the staff were good.

One resident told us that they had lived at the home for a number of years and that Magnolia Lodge was their home.

Relatives told us that they were very happy with the care provided by the staff at Magnolia Lodge. They said that staff should be given a " pat on the back".