Walsingham Support - Langdon Park

Updated 22 April 2023

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was conducted by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Langdon Park is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. Langdon Park is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at all the information we held about the provider, including notifications of significant events. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We met all 6 people who lived at the service and staff on duty who included the registered manager. We spoke with people during our visit and on the telephone. In total we spoke with all 6 people, the registered manager, 4 support workers, 1 senior support worker, a volunteer, an interpreter who was supporting 1 person, the relatives of 3 people and 1 social care professional. We looked at records used by the provider to manage the service including audits, meeting minutes and selected care records including the care plans for 2 people. We also looked at how medicines were managed, and records associated with this.

We observed how people were being cared for and supported. Our observations included the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We inspected aspects of the environment including checks on health, safety and cleanliness.

Updated 22 April 2023

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.

About the service

Langdon Park is a care home for up to 7 adults with learning disabilities and autistic people. At the time of the inspection 6 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The service was not able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support: Staff did not focus on people's strengths and did not support people to have fulfilling and meaningful lives. People were not supported to pursue their interests, aspirations, or goals. People lived in an environment which was not clean or safe and did not always meet their needs. The environment was not interactive or stimulating. Medicines were not always managed in a safe way. People were not always able to make choices, and when they expressed choices, these were not always respected. People were able to access the healthcare services they needed and were supported to maintain good health. People were not physically restrained by staff.

Right Care: People did not always receive kind and compassionate care. The staff did not always respond to people's individual needs. People were not always supported to communicate with staff and not provided with enough information or staff who knew how to communicate with them. People did not always receive personalised care which met their needs. There were enough staff and they received training in a range of areas to help equip them with the skills and knowledge they may need. However, they did not always implement best practice from their learning.

Right culture: People were not empowered to make decisions and achieve their aspirations. They did not receive good quality care and support because staff did not understand, or did not want to, deliver a personalised service which reflected best practice for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. The staff turn over was low and staff told us they had good relationships with people. However, the support they provided focussed on basic tasks and not on promoting individuality and independence. There was a risk of a closed culture because staff did not always act in an open and transparent way and did not always accept the view of others, including people who used the service, which challenged the way they wanted to work.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 1 September 2018).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

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 have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care, dignity and respect, safe care and treatment, meeting nutritional and hydration needs, premises and equipment 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Special Measures

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the 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.