Leighside

Updated 18 April 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector, an inspection manager and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Leighside 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. Leighside 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. A new manager had been in post approximately two months and had submitted an application to register, which was subsequently approved.

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 spoke with the manager, a senior support worker and 4 support workers. We observed the interactions between staff and people living at the home. We looked at a range of records including support plans for 2 people, recruitment files for 2 staff, training records, risk assessments and medicines records. We also looked at information regarding the arrangements for monitoring the quality and safety of the service provided within the home. Following the inspection visit we received feedback from 4 relatives and 1 community health and social care professional.

Updated 18 April 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

Leighside is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 5 people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service.

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

Right Support: Care plans contained sufficient detail for staff to support people to lead the lives they wanted. People were involved in managing risks to themselves and in taking decisions about how to keep safe.

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.

Right Care: Care was mostly person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. Support plans were being reviewed to ensure these were consistent with people’s needs. The manager was able to explain the improvements they were making to the service such as reviewing the medicine recording system and updating decision documentation for those people who needed support to make day to day decisions.

Right Culture: While there were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service, these had not always been effective and actions not completed. Relatives had mixed feedback about the service. The manager acknowledged there had been, and continued to be, challenges related to management and staff team changes and new ways of working. They told us team building was work in progress and was improving.

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 July 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of the quality and safety of the service since it came under new ownership. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Leighside 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.