• Care Home
  • Care home

Ashridge

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

14 Tower Road, Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21 9AD (01205) 366922

Provided and run by:
Parkcare Homes (No.2) Limited

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 4 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by an inspector 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. In this instance, in the care of person living with a learning disability.

Service and service type:

Ashridge is registered as a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (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 that 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 gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of our inspection. This was because we wanted to be sure that the people who lived there would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 28 February 2019 and we returned on 5 March 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included an action plan detailing the actions the provider would take following the outcome of our last inspection.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually 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 judgements in this report.

During our inspection we used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not speak with us. We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, a peripatetic manager, quality improvement lead for the provider, two members of care staff, the head chef, the housekeeper and nine people who lived at the service. We also spoke with six relatives by telephone. A peripatetic manager is appointed by the provider to move between services to support registered managers.

We looked at a range of records related to the running of and the quality of the service. These included risk assessments, three staff recruitment and induction files, staff training information and arrangements for managing complaints. We looked at the quality assurance processes that the registered manager had completed. We also looked at care plans and daily care records for nine people and three medicine administration records.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 4 June 2019

About the service: Ashridge is a residential care home comprising of a main two-story building with a six-bedroom bungalow extension called The Beeches. It provides care and support for up to 18 people living with a mental health disorder, learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. The were 17 people living at Ashridge when we inspected.

People’s experience of using this service:

People had their risk of harm assessed for internal and external activities.

There was a nominated safeguarding ambassador to share best practice and support staff to keep people safe.

There were sufficient numbers of skilled, competent and experienced staff to provide people with individual care. Medicines were managed safely and all areas of the service were clean.

Lessons were learnt when things went wrong, this lead to improvements in care practices.

People had a say on the menus and received a nutritious, varied and well-balanced diet to suit their needs and preferences.

Staff worked with other health and social care professionals to deliver effective care to people to meet their health needs.

People were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff supported people to improve and sustain their independence and be active.

People were treated as unique individuals and were enabled to maintain contact with family and friends.

People took part in a range of activities and pastimes of their choice.

The registered manager was approachable and had made significant improvements to the overall quality of the service.

People and their relatives had a say in the running of the service and were invited to give their feedback on the quality of the service.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

Rating at last inspection:

Ashridge was last inspected on 29 and 30 October 2017 (report published 28 February 2018) and was rated as requires improvement overall.

Why we inspected:

We asked the provider to complete an action plan at our last inspection. We wanted to see if the provider had made progress with their action plan and that the service was safe and well-led.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about Ashridge until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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