Archived: Hillgreen Care Limited - 14 Colne Road

Updated 26 October 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

This focused inspection took place on 22 January 2016 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by three inspectors.

Before the inspection we received information from the local authority that had carried out a food safety inspection on the 19 January 2016.

We spoke with six members of staff including the regional manager. We looked at the training records of seven staff members. Other documents we looked at included policies and procedures, quality audits, fire safety records, maintenance, health and safety records.

Updated 26 October 2016

14 Colne Road is a residential care home providing care for up to six younger adults with learning disabilities. On the day of the inspection there were five people using the service.

This focused inspection took place on 22 January 2016 as we had received serious concerns from the local authority as part of a food safety inspection that had taken place. We checked whether the provider was in breach of legal requirements in relation to Regulation 15 and 17 concerning premises and equipment and good governance.

At the time of the inspection there was no 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.

At the last comprehensive inspection which took place on 19 November 2015, the provider was found to be in breach of Regulations 9, 12, 16, 17, 18 and 19. These covered safe care and treatment, fit and proper persons employed, staffing, person centred care, receiving and acting on complaints and good governance. Not all of the above Regulations were looked at as part of this focused inspection. However, the provider was found to be in continued breach of Regulation 17.

On 19 January 2016 a food safety inspection had been carried out by the local authority. This had highlighted serious concerns around the safe management of food, health and safety risks and infection control issues. The inspection made reference to certain issues which included out of date food, cross contamination and appropriate storage of foods. The report also highlighted health and safety issues which included structural concerns of the building, pest control, cleanliness of the home and certain pieces of equipment within the home and the poor condition of the kitchen and the cupboards within the home and also raised concerns about the knowledge of staff in relation to food safety.

At our inspection, we found that the provider had implemented some improvements in response to the recommendations that the local authority had made. However, at the time of this focused inspection we noted that certain remedial actions which could have been implemented immediately had not been applied.

There were inadequate arrangements in place to prevent and control the spread of infection and ensure that the premises and equipment were clean. There was no infection control policy in place and staff were not adhering to a cleaning schedule. We saw evidence of poor infection control practice. This included overflowing bins, unclean areas and inappropriate storage of clinical waste. The storage of hazardous substances was not safe and presented a risk to people using the service. The premises were not being properly maintained.

There was ineffective management oversight of the home and the service it provides. The provider had failed to appoint someone to the role of manager since early December 2015. The deputy manager was not being provided with sufficient support to ensure that the service was being effectively run. The provider had failed to identify serious issues in relation to the running and management of the service. The systems in place to identify issues were either ineffective or had not been implemented. In relation to a number of issues, action appeared to be taken by the provider only when external independent agencies identified issues. Some of these issues potentially placed people and staff at risk of harm. When action was taken, it was not always effective or addressed all of the issues that had been highlighted.

Certain issues around the structure and condition of the building had been highlighted to senior managers by staff working within the home. However, no action had been taken.

During this inspection we found the provider to be in breach of Regulation 15 and 17. This report only covers our findings in relation to these breaches. We are in the process of taking enforcement action against the provider. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for 14 Colne Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We will undertake another unannounced inspection to check on all other outstanding breaches of regulations identified for this service.