8 August 2019
During a routine inspection
87 Bouncers Lane is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to three people with learning disabilities and autism. At the time of the inspection three people were living in the home.
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 that include control, choice, and independence. However, people using the service did not always consistently receive planned and coordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them.
There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were not always safe and were at risk of avoidable harm. Risks to people’s safety had not been regularly reviewed. Behaviours that challenged were not always managed well and the systems in place were not effective enough to mitigate these known risks. Medicines were not always managed safely.
There had been a significant turnover of support staff, managers and senior management. Relatives expressed great concern over this and told us people’s needs may not have been met. Professionals were concerned over the impact of many staff changes. Peoples anxiety resulting in challenging behaviours may have increased due to a disruptive staff team. Some staff were not trained in specialist behavioural management techniques.
The kitchen, shower room and some communal areas were not clean, outside the house appeared to be shabby. Inside, the house was bland and lacked homely comforts.
Although care plans were person-centred they had not been regularly reviewed. This meant that information on how to support the person was out of date and staff may not have followed appropriate guidance or practice.
The service did not consistently apply 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.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. However, people's support did not always focus on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.
The staff were caring and had positive relationships with the people they supported. People had their own private space and access to the communal areas and garden.
The provider had recruited a new home manager. There was confidence from the locality manager and support staff that this would mean improvements within the service.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 07 February 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.