Taylor Road

Updated 14 January 2020

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one 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

Taylor Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, and five care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and three people’s medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service such as information on staff recruitment and training, risk and incident management, audits of care records and health and safety checks.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at staff meeting minutes and received information about actions taken to address the shortfalls we identified.

Updated 14 January 2020

About the service

Taylor Road is a residential care home providing personal care to up to seven people with a learning disability, physical disability, sensory disability and/ or autism. The accommodation is provided across two linked bungalows and at the time of the inspection seven people were living in the home.

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

The service did not consistently apply the full range of principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence. The outcomes for people did not fully reflect these principles and values because people did not always receive safe, person-centred care according to their individual needs and preferences.

Risks to people in relation to their environment and their health needs were not always fully assessed or managed. This included how people received their medicines. These safety concerns had not been identified or acted upon by the provider.

People did not always receive care that met their individual needs. Where advice had been provided by specialist teams on how to meet their needs, this was not routinely followed by staff.

Whilst people were able to undertake some activities, there needed to be greater focus on this and on ensuring people pursued their own goals and interests.

Care records and information on how to meet people’s needs were held in various locations and were not always easy to find or follow. Oversight of care delivery and record management had not been adequate. However, at the time of the inspection, a range of new measures were being put in place to address this, including observational supervisions and enhanced auditing of records. Recent improvements had been made to the cleaning schedules within the home.

Most people were provided with appropriate support in relation to their eating and drinking and input from healthcare professionals was arranged for people, as required.

Staffing levels were appropriate and staff were mostly up to date with their training. Staff interacted well with people and we saw caring, friendly and warm interactions. There was some good care planning relating to the management of people’s behaviour. People were treated with respect and where possible were involved in making decisions about their care. There was evidence that staff promoted people’s independence.

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.

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 Requires Improvement (report published on 23 November 2018). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. We have identified breaches in relation to safe treatment and governance at this inspection. Please see the full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will also 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.