Valmark House

Right Support: Valmark House does not look like a care home and merges in well with the other properties forming part of a local community. People had a choice about their living environment and were supported by staff to personalise their rooms. For 1 person this included the use of interactive and sensory objects to provide a stimulating environment.

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

Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life.

Within the house and gardens, people were being supported to do individual activities of their choice. Staff supported people to go out, shopping and visiting the local area. However, with the recent reduction in staffing levels to reflect occupancy, we found people were not always being given the opportunity to pursue individual interests outside the service. The registered manager said they would take action to support this happening and look at opportunities for people to try new activities to enhance and enrich their lives.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

The service worked with people and health professionals to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative. Staff knew how people preferred to take their medicines to achieve best possible health outcomes.

Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Care: People received kind and compassionate care by staff who knew them well. Staff promoted and respected people's privacy and dignity. Staff understood and responded to people's individual needs.

Staff received an induction and on-going training, which supported them to get to know the people they were supporting and meet their changing needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

We saw people could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People's care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs, and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right Culture Governance systems were in place but the oversight of these was not always effective. During the inspection, we identified shortfalls in risk management, and infection control. Although action was taken by the registered manager at the time, it demonstrated a weakness in their checks and audits, which could impact on people's safety.

Since the last inspection we found the provider had not kept updated with current best practice. The impact of the registered manager working 'hands on,' and providing cover for another of the provider's services had not been assessed. No protected time was in place to support them and the provider to jointly review the quality of the service against best practice and regulations, as part of developing the service.

People benefited from having lived at Valmark House for many years. This had enabled staff to develop a good understanding of people's communication to support them having a voice. Relatives, stakeholders and staff were all positive about the service and the quality of care people received.