8 Woodhead Road Care Home Service
8 Woodhead Road Coylton Ayr KA6 6HT
Telephone: 01292 570486
Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 23 February 2017
Service provided by: Service provider number: South Ayrshire Council SP2003003269
Care service number: CS2003045401 Inspection report
About the service
The Care Inspectorate regulates care services in Scotland. Information about all care services is available on our website at www.careinspectorate.com
This service has been registered since 2002.
The service is provided between two houses, Glenriddle Road and Belmont Avenue, Ayr (The latter house being a temporary relocation from Woodhead Road, Coylton). At the time of the inspection the service provided accommodation for five young people, two in Glenriddel and three in young people in Belmont Avenue. The service has a registered manager who is the team leader and two house leads and residential staff providing 24 hours support. The service forms part of two care home services with both sharing the same registered manager. In the service inspected there were two house leads, one based in each of the houses, senior and residential staff.
What people told us
We spoke with three young people during the inspection. We were told that staff were helpful and that they were being well looked after. One young person explained how she had been helped to access online training courses which meant having more confidence in seeking work placements. Young people considered their views were sought about future plans and general issues about daily living, including house decoration and planning activities. All young people thought the meals could better reflect their preferences, however, were keen to point out that it was good food, but just not to their taste. One young person thought he could be encouraged more to achieve goals set.
We spoke with the parents of two young people. Both considered the general standard of care to be good and regarded their child as being safe. Both parents have a basic understanding of the transition move on plans for their child, but lacked knowledge in any great detail. One parent felt that young people living in the house could benefit more from a more structured approach which promoted a good daily routine and encouraged responsibility and the skills necessary for living independently. Staff were described as friendly and helpful but that communication could be improved as sometimes staff were unaware of matters concerning their child and given way to inconsistency in practice.
Self assessment
We were provided a self assessment which identified strengths and areas for service development.
From this inspection we graded this service as:
Quality of care and support 4 - Good Quality of environment not assessed Quality of staffing not assessed Quality of management and leadership 4 - Good
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 2 of 8 Inspection report
What the service does well
The service worked with young people to create person-centred care plans. These were highly visual, colourful and highlighted the aspirations and goals of young people. Care plan action plans were set out in line with the GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child) well-being indicators of safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, responsible and included. Young people confirmed with us that staff knew them well and that they eceivedr good support.
We found that the safety of young people was prioritised and well managed. Risk assessments and management plans were in place to support safer care. There were low levels of absconding and substance misuse which we found reassuring particularly given the older age of some of the children. Children and young people were encouraged to talk through feelings of anger, frustration and anxiety and as a result crisis situations were managed effectively and at an early stage without the need for physical intervention. Management ensured there was good staffing levels in both houses. This meant that young people enjoyed a level of attention and had opportunities for one-to-one time with staff.
Staff members were proactive in ensuring young people's health needs were attended too. Good links were in place with primary health care providers. Staff recognised when young people were in need of mental health services and worked with placing social workers to ensure these services were accessed. We found that good quality meals were provided.
We could see staff members advocated for children in sourcing the appropriate school or work placements. We found some children were in regular school attendance and were making steady progress. Incentives were used to acknowledge good attendance and efforts made. We could see that one young person had made good use of on-line training and had help to compile a Curriculum Vitae. We found that South Ayrshire Council supported young people with work placements to develop confidence and eadinessr for employment.
We observed the relationship between staff and young people as being warm and affectionate. Young people spoke highly of the staff and told us of their progress since living in the house. There was emphasis placed on creating a secure base where young people benefited from feelings of belonging. Staff had been trained on the principles of nurture and this strengthened the caring ethos within the houses. Both houses were homely and young people were actively involved in personalising of the home, which we considered reinforced feelings of ownership.
We could see that young people were encouraged to be active and develop interests. Some examples included going swimming, golfing, attending the gym and playing ootball.f This gave young people the opportunity for positive new experiences.
The views of young people were sought and listened too. Group living issues were discussed at in-house meetings and young people contributed to care planning reviews. We found the responses from the 'viewpoint' questionnaires completed by young people that young people were positive about the care and support received. The management used the views collated from satisfaction from young people and other stakeholders to help inform the service development plan. We also found young people were involved in staff recruitment and systems were in place to ensure that their view on the candidates was taken forward.
Staff told us that they were supported by management and received regular supervision. Training opportunities were good and specific training was sought to meet specific needs of individual children. The management had held development days to look specifically at meeting the needs of a child and another to look at how to implement the nurture strategy.
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 3 of 8 Inspection report
The service were continuing to work alongside CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Looked after Children in Scotland) to evaluate the service and inform the service development plan.
The introduction of senior roles within the service had been established and the role was in the developing phase. The Care Inspectorate is scoping Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Practice in Children and Young People's Services for the Inspection Year 2016/2017. This is part of our contribution to 'Scotland's National action plan to tackle 'Child Sexual Exploitation' and focuses on frameworks of CSE practice, staff understanding and care planning outcomes.
The service provider had guidance in relation to CSE within the child protection policy. Staff we spoke to had an understanding of some of the indicators of CSE and plans were in place to provide dedicated training to all staff and introduce the use of CSE risk assessment tools.
What the service could do better
On the first day of the inspection we looked at the complaint procedure and did not find it to be child-friendly. However, this was addressed immediately by the manager. We will review the effectiveness of the newly introduced in-house complaints procedure at the next inspection in recognition of the importance in relation to safeguarding and quality monitoring.
The arrangements for monitoring of the medication of young people who were self-administering were not sufficiently obust.r There was a lack of medication support plans and we found a medication administrational record card to be inaccurate on the day of inspection. (See recommendation 1)
In one of the houses we found that young people had not sustained work or educational placements. While we acknowledge the support provided to young people by staff and management in this area and recommend that ways to overcome barriers to work and school continue to be explored. (See recommendation 2)
In one of the houses there had been a lack of team meetings and the staff communication book had not been updated for some months. Staff told us that while support was readily available from management that communication was a problem at times. (See recommendation 3)
Requirements Number of requirements: 0
Recommendations Number of recommendations: 3
1. Support plans should clearly state the arrangement for the administration, storage and monitoring of medications. This should take account of the risk assessment for young people, young people who are self administering and the date of when the medication support plan should be reviewed.
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 4 of 8 Inspection report
National Care standards care homes for children and young people - standard 12: keeping well - medication.
2. Staff and management should continue with their effort to improve the educational outcomes for young people in partnership with education providers.
National Care Standards care homes for children and young people - standard 13: learning.
3. Management should ensure good systems of communication are in place to include regular team meetings and the use of staff communication records to ensure all staff are fully aware of decisions regarding young people and are able to work with consistency.
National Care Standards care homes for children and young people - standard 7: management and staffing.
Complaints
There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at www.careinspectorate.com.
Inspection and grading history
Date Type Gradings 12 Feb 2016 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
19 Sep 2014 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
20 Sep 2013 Unannounced Care and support 3 - Adequate Environment 3 - Adequate Staffing 3 - Adequate Management and leadership 3 - Adequate
24 Jan 2013 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment Not assessed
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 5 of 8 Inspection report
Date Type Gradings Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership 4 - Good
18 Oct 2012 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership Not assessed
12 Jan 2012 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership Not assessed
9 Jun 2011 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership Not assessed
1 Feb 2011 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership Not assessed
19 Aug 2010 Announced Care and support 5 - Very good Environment Not assessed Staffing 3 - Adequate Management and leadership Not assessed
2 Feb 2010 Unannounced Care and support Not assessed Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership Not assessed
19 Sep 2009 Announced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 3 - Adequate Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
11 Mar 2009 Unannounced Care and support 4 - Good Environment Not assessed
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 6 of 8 Inspection report
Date Type Gradings Staffing Not assessed Management and leadership 4 - Good
29 Jul 2008 Announced Care and support 4 - Good Environment 4 - Good Staffing 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 7 of 8 Inspection report
To find out more
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Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas.
Inspection report for 8 Woodhead Road page 8 of 8