Background to this inspection
Updated
25 April 2020
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
Two inspectors carried out the visit on 6 March 2020. One inspector carried out the visit on 10 March 2020.
Service and service type
55 Berryscroft Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
The first day of the inspection was unannounced. The second day of the inspection was announced as we wanted to ensure people were available to speak with us.
Before the inspection
We reviewed the evidence we had about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with five people who lived at the home, the registered manager and two staff. We looked at care records for two people, including their assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We read the minutes of residents’ meetings. We checked five staff files, medicines management, accident and incident records and quality monitoring audits.
After the inspection
The provider sent us further supporting evidence by email.
Updated
25 April 2020
55 Berryscroft Road is a care home without nursing for up to six people with learning disabilities and/or autism. There were six people living at the home at the time of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
Learning and improvement had not been implemented when adverse incidents occurred. An ambulance crew had raised concerns about the information available to them about a person’s needs when they responded to a 999 call in May 2019. The crew noted that staff could not provide important information about the person’s healthcare needs and that there was no hospital passport in place. Despite this, hospital passports had not been developed for use in any future hospital admissions.
The provider had not notified CQC of this event, which meant we were unaware of it until this inspection and unable to check that appropriate action had been taken to address the ambulance crew’s concerns.
Although the home was safe, some key aspects of the service, such as medicines and infection control, were not audited to ensure appropriate standards were being maintained. We have made a recommendation about this.
Staff received good support from the registered manager but one-to-one supervisions were not taking place and staff meetings had not been held for some time. We have made a recommendation about this.
People received their care from consistent staff who knew them well.
Staff supported people in a way which maintained their dignity and respected people’s decisions about their care. People had formed positive relationships with the staff who supported them.
People were supported to maintain good health and to access healthcare services when they needed them.
People had access to activities they enjoyed and opportunities to access their local community.
People enjoyed the food at the home. They were encouraged to contribute to the menu and their feedback was listened to.
There were enough staff available to keep people safe and meet their needs. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
At the last inspection the service was rated Good (published 14 October 2017).
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up:
We will request an action plan for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.