Cavendish House is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under a contractual agreement with the local authority, health authority or the individual, if privately funded. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The service provides care and support to people with high support needs, learning disabilities, autism and mental health conditions. There were six people living in the service at the time of the inspection.
We found the following examples of good practice:
The management team led by example and worked as part of the team to combat Covid 19. There had been no outbreak of Covid 19 in the service.
The service had not taken any new people into the service during lockdown as they had no vacancies. This meant people were kept safe from any additional exposure.
There was enough PPE for staff to use and this was worn appropriately. Distinct and separate space had been allocated for changing PPE to prevent cross contamination.
Face masks had been given to staff members households in order to remind them of the risk of cross infection from home to work and to be vigilant.
People were fully involved in discussions about Covid 19 and its effects, prevention, spread and control. This included one person undertaking learning about food hygiene, food preparation and infection control using the same training as care staff for their own personal development.
There was information in easy read and pictures readily available around the service as a reminder of the control of infection.
People were supported to see their families outside of the service in open spaces to reduce the risk of infection. People were supported to observe social distancing whilst meeting with their families.
Detailed risk assessments had been carried out for people who used the service and staff. This ensured that everyone's characteristics such as age, sex, ethnicity and circumstances were considered to ensure risks to the spread of infection were minimised for those most vulnerable.
Clear policies, procedures and contingency plans were in place. Effective monitoring provided good management oversight of the day to day running of the service and their preparedness should there be a second wave of the virus.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.