Highfield House

Updated 23 March 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

Highfield House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. 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

This was an unannounced inspection.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service since their last inspection. This included notifications received from the provider about deaths, accidents/incidents and safeguarding alerts which they are required to send us by law. We also contacted the local authority who commissioned services from this provider.

During the inspection we spoke with one person and three relatives to share their views about the support they received. We spoke with five staff members and the registered manager who was available throughout the inspection.

We looked at the care and review records for two people who used the service and two staff files. We looked at recruitment and training. We looked at records for how people were administered medicines as well as a range of records relating to the running of the service. This included incident and accident monitoring, auditing systems and complaints.

Updated 23 March 2019

About the service:

• Highfield House residential care home provides personal care for up to seven people with a range of needs including learning disabilities and behaviours that may challenge. There were seven people at the home at the time of inspection.

• The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People were safe and staff knew how to keep them safe from harm. The provider had a recruitment process to ensure they had enough staff to support people safely. People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff followed infection control guidance and had access to personal protective equipment.

• Staff had the skills and knowledge to meet people's needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. People's nutritional needs were met and they received enough to eat and drink to ensure they had a healthy diet. People accessed health care when needed.

• People received care from staff who were kind and caring and knew them well. Staff were patient and empathetic and had built good relationships with people. People's privacy, dignity and independence were respected by staff.

• People's support needs were assessed regularly and planned to ensure they received the assistance they needed. People's support was individualised. People were supported to take part in activities of interest and their preferences, likes and dislikes were known to staff. The provider had a complaint process which people were aware of to share any concerns.

• The provider had systems in place to investigate and monitor accidents and incidents. The registered manager understood their legal requirements within the law to notify us of all incidents of concern, deaths and safeguarding alerts. The registered manager was open and honest and had a development plan in place to drive forward improvements.

Rating at last inspection:

• Rated Good overall (last report published 28/01/2016)

Why we inspected:

• This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service continued to be rated good.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.