We inspected Advent House on 21July 2016. This was an announced inspection. We informed the registered provider at short notice (48 hours before) that we would be visiting to inspect. We did this because the location is a small care home for people who can be out during the day and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The service was last inspected in July 2014 and was meeting the regulations we inspected at the time.Advent House is a two storey purpose built facility which is registered to provide 24 hour accommodation and nursing care for up to 10 people who have a learning disability. The service is accessible for people with a learning disability and who may need to use a wheelchair. The service is located within a quiet residential area with open views to fields. At the time of our visit there were six people who used the service (four permanently and two people for respite care).
The home had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The registered provider had failed to ensure that suitably qualified staff were on duty at all times. Some people who used the service had been assessed as needing nursing care; however there wasn’t always a nurse on duty. There had not been a nurse working night duty for two years and more recently some day shifts had not been covered. Insufficient numbers of nurses were employed to cover all shifts. The registered manager told us they would take immediate action and ensure the service was staffed with a nurse at all times.
Risks assessments for people who used the service were insufficiently detailed. This meant that staff did not have the written guidance they needed to help people to remain safe. Staff failed to recognise when incidents would be considered to be abuse and therefore needed referring to the local safeguarding team. This meant that processes were not in place to prevent people who used the service and staff from abuse. Incidents were recorded, however not analysed to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
Checks of the building were carried out to ensure health and safety, however some water temperatures were low and below the recommended level for the prevention of legionella. There was no evidence to confirm that servicing had taken place on the fire alarm. This meant it may not work properly in the event of a fire, if regular checks are not carried out.
Staff did not understand the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated codes of practice. Decision specific mental capacity assessments had not been completed and care records did not describe the efforts that had been made to establish that the least restrictive option for people. There were no records to confirm that 'best interest' discussions had taken place with family, external health and social work professionals.
Staff were not trained to care and support people who used the service. Only 11% of care staff employed were qualified in first aid and only 60% of staff had received training around using physical interventions. This type of training needs to be refreshed on an annual basis, however for many staff this was over a year ago. The registered provider told us further sessions had been booked. From a review of the training matrix we found that only 70% of staff had received moving and handling training and only 37% of staff had received training around gastrostomy care. Staff had not consistently received supervisions and appraisals from 2014 to the date of the inspection.
Two of the three care plans we looked at were person centred and included detailed information on how the person needed to be care for. However, for one person the care records failed to provide sufficient information to enable staff to provide safe care and treatment. We found the lack of information around how to manage the behaviours that were challenge left the person and staff at risk of being injured. The registered provider sent us an updated behaviour management plan after our inspection.
People were supported to participate in leisure and social based activities; however activities for some people were limited.
We looked at the recruitment and selection processes and found that checks were undertaken before staff commenced work. The staff files included evidence that pre-employment checks had been made including written references, the completion of an application form and obtaining proof of identity. We observed that two staff had started work prior to the receipt of a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service clearance (DBS). The registered manager told us they would not routinely employ staff prior to the receipt of a DBS check; however a new person had been admitted to the service who required lots of support would have meant a shortfall in staff to support people. They told us that new staff had worked supervised until their DBS check had been returned.
We looked at the arrangements in place for quality assurance and governance. Quality assurance and governance processes are systems that help providers to assess the safety and quality of their services, ensuring they provide people with a good service and meet appropriate quality standards and legal obligations. The registered provider had systems for monitoring and assessing the service, however these were minimal and ineffective as they did not identify the concerns we identified at the inspection of the service.
People had access to healthcare professionals and services. In addition people had a hospital passport which contained information that would help hospital staff to ensure that care and treatment was provided in a way that the person would want it to be. In general safe systems were in place to make sure people received their medicines safely. However 'as required' guidelines were missing for some people who used the service. This meant staff did not always have clear instruction they needed to administer medicines. Staff encouraged and supported people at meal times. We saw that people were provided with a choice of food and drinks which helped to ensure that their nutritional needs were met. People had been weighed on a regular basis.
The registered provider had a system in place to manage complaints. Relatives told us the staff and registered manager were approachable.
There were positive interactions between people and staff. We saw that staff treated people with dignity and respect. Staff were attentive, respectful, patient and interacted well with people. Observation of the staff showed that they knew the people very well and could anticipate their needs.
The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘Special measures’.
Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.
The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe. If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.
For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.
We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we took at the back of the full version of this report.