Thorpedale

Updated 11 January 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

This is inspection was completed by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Thorpedale is a ‘care home’ without nursing. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. 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. A new manager had been in post and had submitted an application to register. At the time of publication of the report the manager had been registered with CQC.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

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 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We communicated with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. Where people could not communicate verbally, we used different ways of communication using objects and their body language as well as observing interactions between people and staff. We spoke with three relatives.

We spoke with eight members of staff including the manager, operations' manager who is also the nominated individual and support workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with two professionals who have had regular involvement with people using the service. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and three medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 11 January 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

Thorpedale is a residential care home providing personal care to six people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to seven people.

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

Right Support

The care plans and risk assessments did not always focus on people’s aspirations and did not highlight some key risks for people.

Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.

People were in the main 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. However, further development was required with clearly documenting any day to day decisions where people did not have capacity.

The service required improvement to ensure people were cared and support in a clean and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs.

Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing and enabled people to access specialist health care. People spoke about wanting to have more access to social activities.

Right Care

The provider made sure that there was enough skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The manager was proactive in ensuring people had the care and treatment they needed; however, this was not always reflected in care plans.

Right Culture

Professionals and relatives spoke positively about the responsiveness of staff and the management team when supporting people.

The provider had quality assurance systems in place. Most actions were documented, and improvements implemented. However there needed to be further development in capturing lessons learnt particularly where incidents and accidents occurred.

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 29 September 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about another location owned by the same provider. This was in relation to environmental issues, management of safeguarding and good governance. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks at Thorpedale. Thorpedale had not been inspected for some time and a decision was made for us to inspect.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.