Aahana House

Updated 20 January 2021

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 was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. We also received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector working on site and one inspector working remotely.

Service and service type

Aahana House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the provider one hour’s notice to enable them to ensure the premises were set up as safely as possible to accommodate an inspector on-site as there were confirmed COVID-19 cases within the service.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service. This included information we had received from people who contacted us to raise concerns. We also looked at information the provider is required to send to us about significant events that take place within the service, such as deaths of people who use the service. We spoke with commissioners who shared information about the current COVID-19 outbreak at the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service, two members of staff and the registered manager. We reviewed four people’s care records and other documents such as cleaning schedules and management records.

After the inspection

We reviewed some additional documentation we had asked the registered manager to send us.

Updated 20 January 2021

About the service

Aahana House is a residential care home providing personal care and rehabilitation support to 13 people with mental health support needs at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 13 people.

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

The service was safe because the provider assessed and managed risks appropriately, including risks related to behaviour that challenged the service. The provider responded appropriately to incidents and used lessons they learned from these to improve safety standards. There were enough staff to care for people safely. The provider carried out checks to ensure the premises were safe, clean and suitably adapted to meet people’s needs. Staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse. Medicines were managed safely.

The provider assessed people’s needs and delivered care in line with best practice guidance. They sought advice and support from other agencies when needed to meet people’s needs, including healthcare needs. People had access to a choice of nutritious food, although some people felt the quality of the food could be improved. Staff received appropriate support, including a thorough induction and regular meetings to discuss their work and performance. Staff received a variety of training relevant to their roles but some people felt staff were not knowledgeable about their mental health conditions.

We have made a recommendation about staff training.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The service had a person-centred culture and people felt confident to approach the registered manager and raise any concerns or suggestions they wanted to discuss. Staff encouraged people to speak up about discrimination. The provider worked with people, staff and external agencies to assess the quality of the service and make improvements when needed.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 10 April 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of risks arising from behaviour that challenged the service, safety of the environment and whether staff had the knowledge and skills they needed to support people using the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection. The provider had taken effective action to mitigate the risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe, Effective and Well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Aahana House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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