About the service:

¿ The Paul Murphy Centre is a short breaks respite service for people with a learning disability, autism and physical disabilities, registered to provide personal care for up to eight people staying at any one time.

¿ There were twenty people in total using the service, with four people staying at the time of our inspection.

¿ The Centre is an adapted, refurbished property with twelve bedrooms, some of which are en-suite. There are two shared lounges and a shared kitchen / diner. There is an accessible garden to the rear.

¿ The service was first registered with the CQC in May 2018. They then re-registered in October 2018 due to a legal entity change for the provider. There were no changes in the management structure for the provider or the service itself.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

¿ People and their relatives were positive about the support provided by the Paul Murphy Centre. People looked forward to their visits and felt safe with the home’s staff. They said the staff were kind and caring and they were positive about how the registered manager responded to any comments or concerns they had.

¿ People’s needs were assessed and care plans and risk assessments written and reviewed for each person.

¿ Staff knew who was due to stay at the home in advance so could refresh themselves about different people’s needs prior to their visit. The computer care planning system also gave staff key information about their needs and the support required via hand-held devices that each member of staff had when on shift.

¿ Staff received the training and support they required to complete their roles. Any specific training required to meet people’s needs was completed before they stayed at the service.

¿ Staff knew people and their needs well.

¿ Staff enjoyed working at the service and said the registered manager and team leaders were approachable. The provider had developed a clear set of principles for a person-centred service which were promoted to the staff team during supervisions and team meetings.

¿ People received their medicines as prescribed. All medicines were booked in by staff and relatives at the start of their visit. Information about any ‘as required’ was obtained during the pre-admission assessment. Following the inspection, the non-verbal indicators that ‘as required’ medicines should be administered was written into a formal care plan so that all staff would be aware of them.

¿ People participated in a range of activities with staff support depending on what they wanted to do. The registered manager developed a form to record what people had done during their respite stay and what they would like to do on their next visit.

¿ The home was furnished and decorated to a high standard. First floor bedrooms had track hoists in situ and bathrooms were fully accessible.

¿ The service was flexible in terms of the layout of the bedrooms and the staffing to meet each person’s individual needs.

¿ The registered manager and operations manager completed a series of audits. An action plan was written if any issues were found. These had been completed within the agreed timescales.

¿ The fire alarm was checked every week and a three-monthly audit of the fire procedures was carried out. Emergency lighting and fire doors were visually checked. Following the inspection additional training was provided for a staff member to test the emergency lighting using the emergency glass break.

¿ Testing for Legionnaires was completed, unused water taps were flushed and some water temperature checks were made. Additional water temperature checks for taps regulated with a thermostatic valve were i