45 Hall Green Road

Updated 22 August 2019

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

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

45 Hall Green 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

The provider was asked to complete a provider information return, but this inspection was completed before we required them to return it to us. However, the registered manager provided us with a draft copy of this on the day of our 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 asked the local authority and Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. In addition, we spent time with people in the communal areas observing the care and support provided to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. Following this inspection site visit we spoke with one relative on the phone.

We spoke with six members of staff including, the registered manager, deputy manager and four support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records including the records of medicine administration. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. In addition, we looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring checks.

Updated 22 August 2019

About the service

45 Hall Green Road provides accommodation and or personal care for up to eight people living with a learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder or acquired brain injury. At the time of this inspection eight people were living there.

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

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives. However, people were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the provider did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible or in their best interests; the application of the policies and systems was inconsistent and did not always support good practice. Voyage Care published people’s private and personal information on their website without the consent of the person or identifying if it was in their best interests.

People were not always safe as the systems and procedures at 45 Hall Green road were ineffective in identifying improvements needed in safety.

People did not always receive their medicines safely. When people had prescribed medicated creams for pain control the information provided was inconsistent and unclear for staff members to consistently and safely follow. Staff members did not date topical medicines when they commenced their use.

The infection prevention and control measures and checks were ineffective in identifying and correcting defective equipment.

The providers quality monitoring procedures were ineffective in identifying the improvements which were needed to drive good care and support.

People were protected from harm and abuse as the staff team had been trained to recognise potential signs of abuse and understood what to do. People had information on how to raise concerns and were confident any issues would be addressed correctly.

People had individual assessments of risk associated with their care and support.

Staff members were aware of the necessary action they should take in the event of an emergency.

The provider supported staff in providing effective care for people through person-centred care planning, training and one-to-one supervision.

People had access to additional healthcare services when required.

People were supported to maintain a healthy diet by a staff team which knew their individual likes and dislikes.

People received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had developed positive relationships.

People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age, gender, disability and religion.

People were provided with information in a way they could understand. The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any complaints or compliments from people or those close to them.

The provider, and management team, had good links with the local communities within which people lived.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was ‘Good’ overall with requires improvement for the safe domain (published 27 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the need for consent and the overall governance at 45 Hall Green Road.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for 45 Hall Green Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.