The Poplars

Updated 10 March 2022

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 Care Act 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Poplars 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager had recently taken a new role within the organisation; therefore, a new manager had been appointed and was in the process of registering with CQC. Both the registered manager and newly appointed manager were present during the inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before 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 three people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. Some people who used the service were unable to talk with us but used different ways of communicating including using sounds, tapping and body language.

We spoke with seven members of staff including senior leaders, senior autism practitioners and autism practitioners.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and six medication records. We looked at two 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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 10 March 2022

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

The Poplars is a residential care home providing personal care to up to six people with learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder or associated physical needs. The home is a bungalow, with five bedrooms in the main building, a communal lounge, conservatory, dining space and kitchen. The sixth bedroom is in an attached annex, which has its own separate living space, kitchen area and bathroom. People have access to a pleasant accessible outdoor space. At the time of inspection six people were using the service.

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

Right Support

The service supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence. People had control over their own lives. People were supported to make choices about their living environment, such as the decor and were able to personalise their rooms. We saw everyone at the service was involved in decisions about the home. For example, a meeting was held about getting a new sofa for the living space and people were supported to go shopping to choose the sofa they liked.

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. Relatives felt the home was safe and homely which was important to them and the people at the service.

Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. Reasonable adjustments were made for people so they could be fully in discussions about how they received support, including support to travel wherever they needed to go. This included providing information to people in a format they could understand, such as easy read.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. The provider also had an in house multi-disciplinary team (MDT) which worked closely with the home to provide prompt clinical support when required.

Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing. We saw conversations were had with people about their medical needs and what worked well for them, what didn’t work for them and what they would like to happen next.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs.

We observed people who had individual ways of communicating, using body language, sounds, pictures and symbols interact comfortably with staff and others involved in their care and support because staff had the necessary skills to understand them. When people were finding communication difficult, we observed staff to revisit conversations with people when they were more comfortable.

People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives.

Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff.

Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did.

People and those important to them, were involved in planning their care. Relatives were positive about the communication from the staff and felt their views were listened and acted upon.

People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

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 was requires improvement (published 26 June 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

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

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. We undertook a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

We widened the scope of this inspection to a focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan following breaches found at our last inspection of this service on 21 May 2019 and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

Follow up

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