About the service:

St Anne’s Community Services – Dewsbury 2 is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for people with mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were four people living in the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People we spoke with told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to keep people safe from harm.

• Medicines management was safe. Staff received appropriate training before they could administer and support people with their medicines.

• Regular checks were undertaken to ensure the equipment was safe.

• Staff were recruited safely. There were enough staff to keep people safe and to meet their care needs. Staff were receiving appropriate training relevant to their role. Staff said they felt supported by the registered manager.

• People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

• Care records were up to date and detailed the care and support people wanted and needed. Risk assessments were in place and showed what action had been taken to mitigate identified risks.

• There was a complaints procedure and people knew how to raise concerns or complaints about the care or support they received.

• The manager provided staff with leadership and was approachable and supportive. Regular audits and checks were carried out and used to drive continuous improvements to the service people received.

• Staff worked closely with a range of community health care professionals to make sure people’s health needs were met.

• For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated good (report published 5 September 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to confirm that this service remained good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

This inspection took place on 8 June 2016 and was unannounced. The service was last inspected in September 2013 and at that time the service was meeting the regulations we inspected.

St Anne’s Community Services - Dewsbury 2 provides support and personal care for up to five adults with mental health needs.

The service is required to have 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. The registered manager of the service had recently retired. The new manager had applied to register as manager of the service, but at the time of the inspection this had not been finalised.

People who used the service told us they felt safe at the service. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding adults from abuse and who to contact if they suspected any abuse. Risk assessments were individual to people’s needs and minimised risk whilst promoting people’s independence.

Medicines were managed in a safe way for people and self-management of medicines was promoted by the service.

There were enough staff to provide a good level of interaction and the provider had effective recruitment and selection procedures in place.

Staff had received an induction, supervision, appraisal and specialist training to enable them to provide support to the people who used the service. This ensured they had the knowledge and skills to support the people who lived there.

People’s consent to care and treatment was always sought in line with legislation and guidance.

Meals were planned on an individual basis and people were supported to eat a balanced diet. A range of healthcare professionals were involved in people’s care.

Staff were caring and supported people in a way that maintained their dignity, privacy and human rights. People were supported to be as independent as possible throughout their daily lives.

People were able to make choices about their support and engaged in activities which were person centred.

The service was led by each individual's goals and aspirations. Individual needs were assessed and met through the development of detailed personalised care plans and risk assessments using a ‘recovery star’ model. People's needs were reviewed as soon as their situation changed.

People told us they knew how to complain and told us staff were always approachable. Comments and complaints people made were responded to appropriately.

The culture of the organisation was open and transparent. The manager and deputy manager were visible in the service and knew the needs of the people who used the service.

People who used the service, their representatives, and staff were asked for their views about the service and they were acted on.

The registered provider had an overview of the service. They audited and monitored the service to ensure people’s needs were met and that the service provided was to a high standard.

During our inspection we spoke with three members of staff and three people who used the service. We found people's needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with their individual plan. We saw that care plans were detailed, thorough and provided clear guidance to staff about how people's care and support should be delivered.

We saw evidence which demonstrated a variety and choice of food available for people to eat. We observed people had unrestricted access to the kitchen and could help themselves to drinks and food, including fruit, throughout the day.

Corporate policies and procedures were in place for infection prevention and control and these were up to date. We found these were applied and all systems were in place to highlight infection control measures, such as audits and spot checks carried out by the area manager.

We reviewed staff rotas and saw there were sufficient staff on duty to respond to people’s needs. Staff confirmed there were enough staff on duty. We found evidence to show appropriate training was provided to staff.

The provider had systems in place to identify, analyse and review risks or incidents. Information about quality and safety was gathered and monitored to identify risks and areas for improvement.

The people who used the service told us that they were happy living at the home. They told us that they liked the staff who worked there and were able to make their own choices. We looked at peoples care plans and saw that the care was carefully planned in a way that ensured their safety and well being. They told us that they felt very involved in their care plan and that each plan was a reflection of their need.

Staff who worked at the home felt that people were treated with dignity and respect. They felt supported by the management team. We saw that staff received regular supervision and staff told us that the amount of supervision they received was enough to meet their needs. They felt that the training offered was very good and that they had benefitted from the training. We saw that staff had annual appraisals and that their training needs were included in their development plans.

People living in the home felt able to raise concerns and were not scared to do so. They told us that they felt safe living in the home.