HF Trust - Trelawney

Updated 8 March 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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

HF Trust – Trelawney House 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. HF Trust – Trelawney House 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people available to speak with us.

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 worked 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 met with 5 people and spoke with 7 staff members including the registered manager, residential operations manager and HF Trusts head of care and support for the region. We reviewed 2 people's care records, 2 people's medicines records and a range of records related to the management of the service, such as meeting minutes and audits. We spoke with 4 relatives by phone.

Updated 8 March 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

About the service

HF Trust - Trelawney is a residential care home for up to 6 autistic people or people who have a learning disability. At the time of the inspection 6 people were living at the service. Accommodation was spread over 2 floors. There was a shared dining room/conservatory, living room and kitchen. A small bedroom was used to store medicines staff records and other records relating to the service. This room was also used as a staff sleep-in room.

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

Right Support

Staff supported people to be independent and have control over their own lives.

People were supported by staff to pursue their interests.

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their physical needs.

People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms.

Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

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

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. They had training on how to recognise and report abuse and knew how to apply it. However, we identified one occasion when a potential safeguarding concern had not been reported externally.

The service had staff vacancies and was using agency staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

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 meaningful to them.

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

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

Right Culture:

Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive to their needs.

Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate.

Policies did not guide services to ensure risks of a closed culture were minimised.

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 18 June 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about the provider. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. 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 remained good.

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.

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the reporting of any safeguarding concerns.

Follow up

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