Spring House

Spring House is a care home for six people with a learning disability and/or autism providing personal care, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. People living at Spring House may also have associated sensory, communication and physical needs. At the time of the inspection there were six people living at Spring House.

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:

Mental capacity assessments weren’t always carried out robustly by staff to ensure peoples’ safety. However, people were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

The building and decoration were designed to meet the needs of people using the service and provided six single occupancy apartments or studio apartments with communal spaces.

People were encouraged to be independent and were given a budget so they could choose what they wanted to eat. One person told us, “It’s exciting to get to pick my own food.”

Right Care:

Risk assessments had been completed but did not cover all the issues we found to ensure people were safe.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. During the inspection we observed positive interactions between people and staff. One person told us staff were kind, they noticed when they were upset, and offered support.

People received care that was tailored to their specific needs. Care plans were individualised and contained detailed information about people’s needs and preferences.

People’s rights to dignity and privacy were respected. One person couldn’t be left alone whilst in the bath due to their health condition. Therefore, a screen was used to respect privacy and dignity, and ensure the person was safe. One person told us the most important thing for them at Spring House was the level of respect shown by staff for people living there. This was particularly important when people were experiencing difficulties managing their mental health.

Right Culture:

Although there was a quality assurance process, the registered manager was not able to produce a medicines audit which placed people at risk of not receiving their prescribed medicine safely. Risk factors relating to safety had not always been identified and addressed. However, the registered manager said they would address all the issues we found immediately.

Staff received the relevant training when they joined the service, they received ongoing training, had their competencies assessed and received supervision. People told us, “Yes, I feel safe here, I trust the staff” and “Staff have the skills they need to work with people.”

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

Rating at last inspection

The service was registered with us on 10 October 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to check whether the provider was meeting legal requirements and regulations, and to provide a rating for the service as directed by the Care Act 2014.

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 are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We found breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment, quality assurance processes and good governance at this inspection.

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

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.