Cedar House

Updated 25 May 2021

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, a nurse who specialised in complex needs 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. The Experts by Experience contacted relatives by phone to request feedback as people using the service were unable to speak to us.

Service and service type

Cedar house 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided

Notice of inspection

We carried out the inspection visit on 7 May 2021. We gave a short period notice of the inspection as we were mindful of the impact and added pressures of COVID-19 pandemic on the service. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances and requirements arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the home which included statutory notifications and safeguarding alerts.

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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During our inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and two support staff and one person who used the service. We looked at four care records and three staff files we looked at various documents relating to the management of the service which included medical records, Infection control and quality assurance records.

After the inspection

We spoke to 10 relatives of people who used the service by telephone.

Updated 25 May 2021

About the service

Cedar House provides accommodation and care to up to 12 people with multiple disabilities who need full support with all aspects of daily living. At the time of this inspection there were 10 people living in the service.

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

Relatives told us that their relatives were safe and received good care and support.

Recruitment processes and procedures were safe.

Risks identified with people’s health, medical and care needs had been assessed and documented with clear guidance on how to minimise the identified risk to keep people safe.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed.

Systems and processes were in place to keep people safe There were enough competent staff to meet people's needs.

The home was clean and odour free. There were increased infection control measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak Staff received the training and support to carry out their role effectively. Support staff told us that they felt that the current management team were very supportive especially during the recent months of the pandemic.

There was a positive culture throughout the service which focused on providing care that was personalised.

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.

The provider had systems in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection we rated this service good. The report was published on 29 August 2017.

Why we inspected

We carried out a focused inspection of this service on 7 May 2021. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective and well led as we were mindful of the impact and added pressures of COVID-19 pandemic on the service.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information, we may inspect sooner.