Colham Road

Staff were gentle, caring and attentive. They understood how people communicated without words and involved families in decisions.

“The staff interactions with people were kind, supportive and caring.” from the report

The home worked closely with doctors, nurses, dietitians and other professionals. Staff had specialist training for people's complex health conditions.

“The staff worked with other healthcare professionals to make sure people's needs were assessed, monitored, and met.” from the report

Care plans recorded people's gestures and facial expressions, helping staff understand their wishes, discomfort and choices.

“Staff had created comprehensive communication care plans which recorded different physical gestures and facial expressions and what these meant for each person.” from the report

Some medicine records were not up to date and some medicines were not stored safely. Inspectors found no evidence of harm, but said this increased the risk of errors and harm.

“Medicines were not always managed in a safe way. We identified concerns with some records about medicines and the storage of some medicines.” from the report

Staff did not always follow the home's infection-control procedures. Some protective equipment went into open wastepaper bins instead of clinical waste bins, and some areas needed deep cleaning.

“There were also some areas which needed deep cleaning.” from the report

The dedicated sensory room was being used for storage, so people could not use its equipment and resources. The manager said they were trying to raise funds for a replacement facility.

“People living at the service would benefit from regular access to a more suitable sensory facility at the service.” from the report

There were no dedicated vehicles at the time of inspection. Hiring vehicles was possible but costly, which limited access to some events outside the home.

“At the time of the inspection, there were not dedicated vehicles for the service. This limited how easily people could access events outside of the home.” from the report