Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
Care Standards Act 2000
Inspection Report
Gelli Lon Care Home
New Street
Lampeter
SA48 7AL
Type of inspection – Baseline
Date of inspection – Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Date of publication – Friday, 5 June 2015
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Summary
About the service
Gelli Lon is registered to provide respite care to up to four people with learning disabilities
aged between 18 and 65yrs. One the day of our (Care and Social Services Inspectorate
Wales, CSSIW) visit one person was staying in the service. All people staying in Gelli Lon
are from the Ceredigion area and book in advance to come to stay. We were told that the
length of stays averaged from one weekend to one week and sometimes longer.
The service is situated discretely within rows of houses along a minor street in the small
university town of Lampeter and is within walking distance of shops and other amenities.
The registered manager is Karen Dagg, who is currently awaiting registration with CSSIW.
The responsible individual Jane Tregelles who is also the chief executive of Royal
Mencap.
What type of inspection was carried out?
We (CSSIW) visited the service on 27 January 2015 for a scheduled, announced,
focussed inspection. To inform this report, we considered people’s quality of life. The
methodology used was:
One announced visit
Recommendations from previous report
Discussion with the person visiting the service, staff and the manager
Viewing of one person’s care records
Viewing of the Statement of Purpose
Observation of care practices.
What does the service do well?
The service supports people to participate in activities of their own choosing, when taking
short respite breaks from their usual routines.
What has improved since the last inspection?
There were no issues of non-compliance noted during the last inspection.
What needs to be done to improve the service?
There were no issues of non-compliance noted during this inspection.
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Quality Of Life
Overall, we found that staff demonstrated a commitment towards providing people with
good quality care. During our visit, we saw people being treated with respect, dignity and
warmth. People in the service were not able to tell us about their experience due to their
dementia, but we noted from their body language and facial expressions that they
appeared to be relaxed and happy with the staff supporting them.
From the care records, we saw that people's individual support was assessed at an early
stage in order to ensure the service could meet their needs. For example, any physical
health or behavioural issues that would require staff support. We saw that support plans
were then developed to address each person's needs and to ensure their welfare. We
noted that support plans were written in ways that made sense to the people they
described. For example, we saw one person’s support plan used graphics and photos to
assist in engaging the person because they did not read. We saw that care records were
reviewed six monthly, or more frequently where there were changes that needed to be
made to the plan. This ensured that the information remained up to date for the staff
team to follow. People also had risk assessments in place where they were at risk of
injury in a hazardous environment, such as the kitchen. We also saw that these risk
assessments were reviewed with the support plans.
From the daily records, we saw that people were supported to be as independent as
possible in their personal care and social needs. We saw that each entry promoted the
person positively and that people involved in the process as much as possible, and
where this was not possible, people’s families were asked for information that would help
the service support their relatives appropriately.
We found that people have a voice in this service and are encouraged to speak up. This
is because people and their families are asked for their opinions and how they wished to
be supported in monthly ‘house meetings.’ We noted that not everyone who used the
service was interested in taking part in these meetings, but the manager made them
available for people to discuss topics that mattered to them and have the conversations
recorded. In addition, we saw that care records included information regarding each
person's communication skills and we saw that this information was recorded clearly in
the care records so that staff clearly knew what people wanted at all times. We saw
examples of graphic symbols in use throughout the service.
We saw that people are active, positively occupied and able to follow interests. We found
that the service supported people to take part in activities of their own choosing when
they were using the service. People went shopping and to cafes, and we saw evidence of
one person who attended dance classes and another person who liked to go for long
beach walks. We observed that these activities were recorded as being leisure activities
that these particular people enjoyed doing.
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Quality Of Staffing
This inspection focused on the quality of life of the people using the service. We did not
consider it necessary to look at the quality of staffing on this occasion because no
concerns have been noted since the last inspection.
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Quality Of Leadership And Management
This inspection focused on the quality of life of the people using the service. We did not
consider it necessary to look at the quality of leadership and management on this
occasion because no concerns have been noted since the last inspection.
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Quality Of The Environment
This inspection focused on the quality of life of the people using the service. We did not
consider it necessary to look at the quality of environment on this occasion because no
concerns have been noted since the last inspection. We also noted that the concerns
recorded at the last inspection have not all been addressed because the service is
closing at the end of February 2015.
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How we inspect and report on services
We conduct two types of inspection; baseline and focussed. Both consider the experience
of people using services.
Baseline inspections assess whether the registration of a service is justified and
whether the conditions of registration are appropriate. For most services, we carry out
these inspections every three years. Exceptions are registered child minders, out of
school care, sessional care, crèches and open access provision, which are every four
years.
At these inspections we check whether the service has a clear, effective Statement of
Purpose and whether the service delivers on the commitments set out in its Statement
of Purpose. In assessing whether registration is justified inspectors check that the
service can demonstrate a history of compliance with regulations.
Focused inspections consider the experience of people using services and we will look
at compliance with regulations when poor outcomes for people using services are
identified. We carry out these inspections in between baseline inspections. Focussed
inspections will always consider the quality of life of people using services and may look
at other areas.
Baseline and focused inspections may be scheduled or carried out in response to concerns.
Inspectors use a variety of methods to gather information during inspections. These may
include;
Talking with people who use services and their representatives
Talking to staff and the manager
Looking at documentation
Observation of staff interactions with people and of the environment
Comments made within questionnaires returned from people who use services, staff and
health and social care professionals
We inspect and report our findings under ‘Quality Themes’. Those relevant to each type of
service are referred to within our inspection reports.
Further information about what we do can be found in our leaflet ‘Improving Care and
Social Services in Wales’. You can download this from our website, Improving Care and
Social Services in Wales or ask us to send you a copy by telephoning your local CSSIW
regional office.
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