• Care Home
  • Care home

Summerwood

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

113 Ashley Road, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5BL (01202) 485597

Provided and run by:
Apple House Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 24 December 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.

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector. A pharmacy inspector attended on the first day of the inspection as part of our quality assurance process. An assistant inspector attended on the second day to speak to people using an interactive feedback tool as part of a pilot project to improve the inclusiveness for people who are unable to verbally tell us about their experiences of care.

Service and service type

Summerwood is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 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 service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with four staff including senior support staff and support staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager.

We are improving how we hear people’s experience and views on services, when they have limited verbal communication. We have trained some CQC team members to use a symbol-based communication tool. We checked that this was a suitable communication method and that people were happy to use it with us. We did this by reading their care and communication plans and speaking to staff or relatives and the person themselves. In this report, we used this communication tool with five people to tell us their experience.

We also 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 talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including health and safety and accidents and incidents.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at other records such as training data, maintenance and quality assurance records. We spoke with three relatives and one care professionals who regularly visited the service. We received written feedback from three other professionals. We spoke with staff from a local community partner and received written feedback from a further staff member.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 24 December 2021

About the service

Summerwood is a residential care home providing personal care to people with learning disabilities and/or autism, some of whom were not able to tell us about their views of their care. The service was registered to provide support to up to 8 people. There were 8 people using the service at the time of our inspection.

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

People we spoke with using interactive communication tools told us they were happy living at Summerwood. Relatives told us they were encouraged to be involved and were very happy with the care and support their loved ones received.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence. For example, support is flexible so people are able to choose activities and go out when they want to. People are encouraged to be as independent as possible to develop life skills and confidence.

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. For example, the provider meets the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 so appropriate assessments and best interest decisions are made on people’s behalf. Staff advocate for people to ensure they are not discriminated against and their human rights are protected.

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Putting people at the heart of their support is embedded within the ethos of the home. Support workers empower people so they can feel confident and included.

Staff understood their responsibilities under safeguarding and whistle blowing, to identify and report any concerns of abuse or suspected abuse. People’s individual risks associated with the health conditions, such as seizures, were assessed and measures were in place to mitigate these. Medicines were managed safely.

Staff received regular training and assessment to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to support people and their specific needs. Health and care professionals told us staff had engaged with training sessions they had delivered to help one person with their communication. Regular supervision sessions ensured staff had formal opportunities for on-going support and guidance.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. We found some issues during the inspection which meant these systems were not always sufficiently robust. The registered manager took action to address these promptly. Staff told us they were very happy working at Summerwood and felt supported by the management team.

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 outstanding in June 2020.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

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.