We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Poplars on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about The Poplars, you can give feedback on this service.
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.
The Poplars is a residential care service. The service provides care and support for up to six people who have learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorder or associated physical needs.
The service worked within the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensured that people could live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.
There were six people living at the service at the time of this inspection.
People's experience of using this service:
Systems used to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the service needed to be strengthened and embedded into practice. Additionally, improvements were needed to ensure communications were being maintained consistently with relatives.
A cleaning schedule needed to be maintained to ensure all areas of the home were cleaned to a suitable standard.
People were receiving their medicines safely, however guideline needed to be developed for all medicines that were prescribed 'as and when' needed to guide staff who did not know people well.
People were supported to have choice and control of their lives, to be involved in reviewing their care and to make decisions for themselves. However, one person's care records did not adequately record how all of their care needs were should be delivered, which was important due to there being new staff who didn't yet know people well.
People continued to receive safe care. Staff understood how to keep people safe from harm and risk assessments were in place to help people and staff manage potential risks within people's day to day lives, whilst also promoting their independence. Fire systems were in place to keep people safe in the event of a fire, however, fire evacuations needed to be carried out for all staff and to show night time conditions had been covered.
There were now enough staff who had the right knowledge and skills to meet people's needs in a personalised way.
People were supported to have access to a varied and nutritious diet.
Information and support provided by external health professionals enabled people to consistently stay healthy.
Staff were caring, and people were treated with respect and kindness.
People, their relatives and staff had a say in how the service was being run.
Rating at last inspection:
At the last inspection the service was rated good (Report published 23 November 2016)
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.
Enforcement
During the inspection we identified a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Regulation 17 Governance.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. The provider's action plan submitted to CQC in response to the breaches will be reviewed to ensure improvement actions are timely and appropriately address the identified concerns. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
The Poplars is owned and managed by Autism East Midlands. The service is situated in Whitwell, Derbyshire, and provides care and support for up to five people over the age of 18 years with learning disabilities and autism. At the time of this inspection there were five people living at the service.
At our last inspection in May 2015 the service was not meeting two regulations. These were in relation to protecting people from risks to their safety and assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. Following the inspection the provider sent us their action plan to tell us about the improvements they were going to make. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.
There was a new manager in post at The Poplars. The manager had been newly appointed and had begun the process of applying to become the registered manager. 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.
The service was safe, clean and well maintained. Medicines were stored, administered and managed safely. Staff received appropriate training and assessment took place, to ensure their practice was safe when administering people’s medicines.
There were effective systems in place to safeguard people and keep them safe. Staff recruitment procedures were in place and followed. Pre-employment checks were undertaken to ensure staff were able to work within the care sector. People using the service and the staff supporting them knew who to report any concerns to if they felt it was necessary.
People were supported to access health professionals when they needed to. People were encouraged to remain as independent as possible and were supported to by staff to prepare meals and drinks of their choice.
People were supported and involved in decisions made in their best interests. The staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). When required, applications had been made to the local authority for assessment and authorisation.
People were supported by staff who were kind, caring and compassionate. Staff treated people with dignity and respect. People were supported to remain as independent as possible. People’s relatives were supported to maintain contact with their family member. People were supported to have access to a variety of communication aids to support them in their daily life. Staff showed consideration for peoples’ individual needs and provided care and support in a manner that respected individual wishes and preferences.
The provider had auditing systems and checks in place to ensure the service was safe and of good quality. There was a positive, open and inclusive culture at the service. Staff felt supported by the management team at the service. Staff received supervision and support from the management team. There were enough staff with the right skills and experience to meet people’s needs. Staff received training which enabled them to provided people with safe care and support.
The Poplars is owned by Autism East Midlands. The service is situated in Whitwell, Derbyshire, and provides care and support for up to five people over the age of 18 years with learning disabilities and autism. At the time of this inspection there were five people accommodated.
This inspection took place on 20 and 21May 2015. The first day was unannounced.
At our last inspection in May 2014 the service was not meeting the regulations we inspected with regard to record keeping, so we followed up this issue and found this had been attended to.
A registered manager was not 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The current manager had made an application to be the registered manager and was awaiting an interview to become the registered manager.
Since our previous inspection in February 2014, we had received information from the local authority safeguarding team which had substantiated issues of abuse concerning people living in the service. This had included inappropriate staff behaviour and medication errors. We looked at these issues on this inspection and found people were treated in a friendly and respectful way and their prescribed medication had been supplied to them.
People and their relatives said they felt safe in the service.
Testing of fire systems was largely in place though there was no confirmation that requirements of the fire service had been met.
Detailed risk assessments had not always been undertaken to inform staff of how to manage and minimise risks to people's health from happening.
Staff had received training on how to protect people who used the service from abuse or harm. They demonstrated they were aware of their role and responsibilities in keeping people as safe as possible.
The Commission had not been informed of situations of abuse to people which meant that monitoring action to prevent these situations could not be considered.
Staffing levels needed to be reviewed to ensure they always met people's needs.
We found people received their prescribed medication in a safe way by staff trained in medication administration.
The provider supported staff by an induction and some ongoing support, training and development. However, comprehensive training had not been provided to all staff, although we saw evidence this had been planned for the near future.
The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is legislation that protects people who may lack capacity to consent to their care and treatment. People’s capacity to consent to specific decisions had been assessed.
People received a choice of what to eat and drink and they liked the food provided.
People who used the service and relatives told us they found staff to be caring and friendly. Our observations found staff to be friendly and attentive to people’s individual needs.
Staff had read people's care plans so they were aware of how to provide care to people that met their needs.
People were encouraged to be as independent as possible. People had their rights respected in terms of privacy and dignity.
Activities were provided though provision was limited and needed to be expanded to include people's preferences.
Complaints had been followed up though the complaints procedure did not provide full information as to how to make a complaint.
The provider had internal quality and monitoring procedures in place, though there was not always evidence that identified actions had been implemented.
The manager enabled staff to share their views about how the service was provided by way of staff meetings and supervision. Staff said management provided good support to them.
We found that before people received any care they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. Where people did not have the capacity to consent, the provider acted in accordance with legal requirements.
We found that care, support and treatment was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare.
There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs.
We found that there were systems in place to handle complaints. People told us they would feel confident about raising concerns. There was information available to people about how to make a complaint and it was in a format accessible to them.
During our visit we saw personal records including medical records for everyone living at The Poplars. We also saw records relevant to the management of the service. However, some of these records were not accurate, fit for purpose and might not be located promptly when needed. This meant that people might not be protected from the risks of unsafe or inappropriate care and treatment.
We spoke to three relatives in total who were mostly happy with the care provided. One relative said the had concerns about staffing levels because there seemed to have been a lot of sickness. The same person said they were concerned about the capacity of staff to deal fully with people's needs in those circumstances. Relatives were invited to care reviews but one told us they did not always feel able to raise issues.