New Street

New Street is a residential respite care home providing personal care to people who have learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. The service can support up to 2 people for short stay respite care.

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

We found the provider had not sent Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) authorisation requests. People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment when this is in their best interests and legally authorised under the MCA. In care homes, and some hospitals, this is usually through MCA application procedures called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). In addition, we found some people did not have a completed mental capacity assessment.

Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act however, further improvement was required to enable staff to fully understand how to work within the principles of the Act.

We raised the issue with DoLS requests and improvements to training with the provider and they confirmed DoLS requests would be issued and refresher MCA training provided for staff members.

The provider had developed a range of audits and quality assurance checks however improvements were required due to issues found during the inspection not being identified by the provider.

People were comfortable, relaxed and happy around care staff and staff understood how to keep

people safe.

Staff understood who to report concerns to as well as the risks to people's health.

Staff had very good knowledge and understood people's health conditions and the support they required.

The risks to people's health were reviewed regularly and care plans updated following any changes.

Safe recruitment and background checks were carried out prior to staff commencing employment.

People received their prescribed medications safely and in accordance with their specific guidance.

People were supported to attend appointments with healthcare professionals and guidance was sought.

Staff followed the infection control procedures the provider had in place.

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 working towards meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture, however improvements were required in relation to maximising people’s choice, control and independence due to issues around DoLS identified during the inspection.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people's choice, control and independence

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people's dignity, privacy and human

rights

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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

Rating at last inspection

This is the first rating of this service. The service was registered with us on 19 September 2019.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not previously received a rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service.

We have identified breaches in relation to Regulation 13 (Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment), at this inspection. The provider responded to the concerns on the day of the inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for 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.