28 September 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
St James House is a residential care home. The service provides support with personal care and
accommodation to people with a range of support needs, including younger and older adults with a learning disability, autism or mental health support needs.
Services for people with learning disabilities and or autism
The service was registered to provide support to up to 15 people and there were 13 people using the service at the time of our inspection. The service is larger than recommended by best practice guidance. However, we have rated this service good because the size of the service was not having a negative impact on people. The building design blended into a local residential area and there were no identifying signs outside to indicate it was a care home. People were encouraged to access the community and undertake person centred activities.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us the service was safe. We observed a calm and relaxed atmosphere during our site visit. Medicines, recruitment and infection prevention and control were managed safely. Individual and environmental risk assessments were detailed and up to date.
People, relatives and staff told us there was a positive culture within the service that promoted people’s choices and independence. Care records were person centred and the service had effective quality assurance processes in place to ensure the service was always improving.
The service applied the 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. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
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 February 2019) with breaches in Regulations 12 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. 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 carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 23 and 24 October 2018. Breaches of legal requirements were found in Regulations 12 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We also looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question during an inspection in August 2020. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place. As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are conducting a thematic review of infection control and prevention measures in care homes. 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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
You can read all our previous reports, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St James House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.