Arundel House - Frinton-on-Sea

Updated 13 September 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.

This was a targeted inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

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 team consisted of 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Arundel House – Frinton-on-Sea is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Arundel House – Frinton-on-Sea 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 not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 13 June 2023 and ended on 19 July 2023. We visited the service on 15 June 2023 and 12 July 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people living in the service. Some people could not give us feedback. We, therefore used informal observation to evaluate their experiences and to help us assess how their needs were being met. We also observed how staff interacted with people. We looked at records in relation to 4 people’s care.

We also spoke with the manager, the new regional manager and 3 staff members. We looked at records relating to staffing, training and development of staff, management of the service and systems for checking the quality and safety of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 13 September 2023

About the service

Arundel House – Frinton-on-Sea is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 10 people who have a learning disability and/or autistic people. People living at the service may also have a mental health condition. At the time of the inspection there were 10 people living at the service.

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

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.

Right Support:

The provider failed to ensure enough staff were deployed to meet people's needs. People were not supported to be independent and have control over their own lives. There was limited evidence recorded of meaningful activities being undertaken and activity plans had not been developed. Whilst staff were familiar and understood people’s individual needs, staff were task focused and people were not supported to achieve their goals and aspirations. Community activities were not being provided and people were not supported to take part in household duties and meal preparation.

There were a range of policies and procedures in place; however, these were not being implemented at the service effectively.

There were elements of the environment in need of updating. Risks posed by the environment had not been identified and as a result had not been resolved. Where risks had been identified insufficient action had been taken to mitigate these risks. Infection prevention and control measures were not robust and some areas of the service were visibly dirty and unhygienic.

Right Care:

The provider failed to verify systems and processes were operated effectively, to ensure incidents of suspected abuse were reported to the appropriate authority. Staff were kind, compassionate and attentive yet they failed to identify poor care and suspected abuse.

We found medicines were not always safely managed and medicine records were not always completed accurately.

There were identified gaps in staff training and we were not assured staff had the skill and knowledge to fill the requirement of their role.

Care records required a review to ensure they reflected people’s current needs. Peoples individual risk assessments were either in need of updating, were incomplete or missing.

Right Culture:

The providers governance systems in place had failed to identify issues and drive necessary improvements to the quality and safety of the service. Managers did not always identify problems or concerns and therefore they missed opportunities to improve the safety of care and treatment people received.

Staff had not received training or information in relation to best practice and the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. There was a culture of doing 'for' rather than 'with' people.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service under the previous provider was good, published on 8 June 2017.

This service was registered with us on 10 October 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to inadequate based on the findings of this inspection.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Arundel House – Frinton-on-Sea on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, person-centred care and good governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

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.