Sandbourne House

Updated 10 April 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 team consisted of one adult social care inspector and an adult social care inspection manager.

Service and service type:

Sandbourne House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a 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. At the time of this inspection the registered manager was on maternity leave. Appropriate management arrangements were in place to ensure the home was being managed effectively.

Notice of inspection:

We gave 24 hours’ notice of the inspection to ensure people living at the home were informed of our visit. This would hopefully reduce any anxiety about having people they didn’t know in their home.

Inspection site visit activity started and ended on 27 February 2019. During the inspection, we spoke with most of the people living at Sandbourne House, two members of staff, the deputy manager and a senior care worker. We received e-mail feedback from a health professional who had regular contact with the home.

We observed how people were supported and to establish the quality of care people received; we looked at records relating to their care and support. This included two individual care and support plans, staff training records and the records relating to the management of the service.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included information about incidents the provider had notified us of and contacting health professionals for their views on the service.

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

Updated 10 April 2019

About the service:

Sandbourne House is a care home for adults with a learning disability. The home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to eight people. At the time of the inspection eight people lived at the home.

What life is like for people using this service:

• Sandbourne House met characteristics of Good in all areas;

• The home was registered for up to eight people before the Registering the Right Support guidance was implemented by CQC in 2017. However, the outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways; people's support was focused on them having as many opportunities and choices as possible.

• Every person we met was happy, relaxed and were doing activities they enjoyed. People and staff told us they were happy living and working in the home. One person said “I feel safe here.

• There was a homely atmosphere and people’s bedrooms had been personalised and decorated as the person preferred.

• People were supported to eat and drink, they had choice in what they ate and could help themselves to drinks throughout the day and cook if they wished.

• People were supported to access health services promptly. Staff knew people well including their communication needs and could identify when a person was feeling unwell, or in pain or upset.

• Care plans were detailed and explained how people liked personal care provided and what activities they enjoyed.

• Staff knew how to recognise and report abuse and were confident any concerns raised would be responded to by their manager.

• Risk assessments were in place to ensure people’s safety. Medicines were managed and administered safely and recruitment practises continued to be followed.

• There continued to be a range of checks in place to ensure the safety of the home.

• more information is in the full report

Rating at last inspection: Good (The date the last report was published was 10 September 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains Good.

Follow up: Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated as Good. We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about the service. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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