Ransdale House

Updated 18 November 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

An inspector and a pharmacist specialist carried out this inspection. A British Sign Language interpreter joined us on 1 inspection visit to enable us to communicate effectively with people who used the service and staff who were deaf.

Service and service type

Ransdale House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Ransdale House is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The first day of the inspection was unannounced. The following visits to the service were announced.

Inspection activity started on 14 February 2023 and ended on 8 March 2023. We visited the location’s service on 14, 15 and 21 February 2023 and 3 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We sought feedback from Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 people who used the service and 1 relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with, and received written feedback from, 9 members of staff including the registered manager, the regional manager, the deputy manager, and support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records, 1 recruitment file and 3 people’s medication records.

A variety of documents relating to the management of the service, including audits and quality assurance documents were reviewed. We liaised with the local fire service and safeguarding authority.

Updated 18 November 2023

About the service

Ransdale House is a residential care home providing personal care to a maximum of 6 people who have profound deafness or significant hearing loss and who have other disabilities or additional support needs. At the time of the inspection 5 people were using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: Risks to people were not always appropriately assessed, monitored and managed. This meant people were not always supported in a way which fully protected them from the risk of harm. People’s medicines were not always safely managed. People were supported by staff whose training was not always up to date. We have made a recommendation about this. People were supported in an environment which required redecoration and some areas of maintenance. People told us the environment would better suit their needs if it were more spacious and if people had their own bathrooms.

People were supported by a long-standing, kind and caring staff team and people told us they felt safe. People were supported by staff who were safely recruited. Staff supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence and to have control over their own lives. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests. People were supported to attend medical appointments.

Right Care: People’s care, treatment and support plans did not always fully reflect their needs and staff sometimes had difficulty accessing these records.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives.

Right Culture: Quality assurance was not always effective and regulatory requirements were not always complied with. Staff did not always feel supported or valued by the provider.

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service has changed provider. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good (published 4 July 2018).

This service was registered with us with the new provider on 30 June 2021 and this was the first inspection under the new provider.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to assess the standard of care delivered by staff and award a rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

We have made a recommendation about ensuring staff training is kept up to date.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.