Cambridge House

Updated 5 September 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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors 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

Cambridge 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. Cambridge 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 a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people living there could get distressed with unexpected visitors.

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 met all the people living at the service and observed staff interactions with people. We spoke with 3 care staff, the administrator and the registered manager. We reviewed 2 people's care records, medicines records and associated risk assessments. We reviewed 2 staff files in relation to recruitment. We spoke with 4 people's relatives about the care and support their family member received.

Following our inspection visit, we had email correspondence with a further 6 staff. We also received feedback from 3 healthcare professionals.

Updated 5 September 2023

About the service

Cambridge House is a residential care home providing personal care and support to 5 people who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic. The service can support up to 6 people.

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

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.

Right Support

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.

People were kept safe by staff who had been appropriately trained and who were familiar with people's care plans.

There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs.

At this inspection we found there were greater opportunities for people to pursue leisure and social interests outside of the home.

Improvements had been made to the safety of the building with new fire doors fitted throughout.

People were supported to access specialist health care support and were in the process of attending dental appointments.

Individual risk assessments around the locked kitchen were more person centred and in place to keep people safe.

Staff supported people to take their medicines safely. The registered manager continued to understand the importance of people not being over medicated, particularly when managing people's increased anxiety.

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 and responded to people's individual needs.

Care plans were person-centred and provided clear information for staff about how to support people.

Staff had completed training in a range of areas that were specific to the people they supported and responded to situations such as managing complex seizures or gastrostomy tubes according to people's care plans and risk assessments.

Staff understood and responded to people's individual needs.

Right Culture

The registered manager worked very closely with the staff and people who lived at Cambridge House.

We received positive feedback about the leadership of the service. Most of the relatives we had contact with were complimentary and positive about the service and the care and support their loved ones received.

The stable management and staff team supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

We received a few negative comments regarding communication which the registered manager was made aware of to address.

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 28 June 2022).

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

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

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