Archived: New Partnerships Lynray and Peach Cottage

Updated 3 October 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on the 28 August 2018 and was unannounced. The site visit was carried out by one adult social care inspector. An assistant inspector made telephone calls to relatives of people living in the service on 31 August and 3 September 2018.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service including statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that occurred at the service. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We used this information to plan the inspection. During our inspection, we observed care and spoke with three people living at the service. We also spoke with the registered manager, the area manager and four care staff on duty. Following the inspection, we spoke to four relatives.

We looked around the premises and observed care practices on the day of our visit. We reviewed two people’s care records including their medicines administration records. We looked at three staff files including recruitment, training and supervision and duty rotas. We looked at other records relating to the management of the service that included incident reports, safeguarding concerns, complaints and audits to monitor quality of the service.

Updated 3 October 2018

This inspection took place between 28 August 2018 and 3 September 2018 and was unannounced. New Partnerships Lynray and Peach Cottage is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 provides accommodation and personal care for up to six people with a learning disability and/or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of our inspection there was six people using the service.

The service consists of two houses located near to each other in a village outside Braintree. Lynray supports three people and has a self-contained annexe which provides accommodation to one person. Peach Cottage supports two people. An administrative office was located nearby in a converted garage.

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.” Registering the Right Support CQC policy

At our last inspection of the service on 14 January and 1 February 2016 we found the service to be good. Since the last inspection there has been a change in ownership and this inspection we found the service continued to be good overall however we have rated Well Lead as requiring improvement because the new provider still had some work to do to improve staff morale and strengthen governance.

Since the last inspection a new manager has been appointed, who has been registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People who lived in the service appeared very happy and at ease with staff. They were not all able to talk to us about the support they received so we spoke with their relatives who were largely positive about the service.

Staff were knowledgeable about the signs of abuse, and the actions they would take should they have any concerns. Medicines were safely stored and administered as prescribed.

Risks were identified and steps were taken to minimise the impact on individuals.

Staff recruitment records demonstrated that the provider took the necessary steps to ensure that they employed people who were suitable to work at the service. We found that there had been staffing shortfalls and recruitment was underway to address this.

We saw that training was provided on an ongoing basis and this included how best to support individuals who present with distressed behaviour.

The staff we spoke with were knowledgeable about people’s needs and a number had worked at the service for some time.

People received a varied choice of nutritional meals. People health was monitored and they had good access to health care support.

People’s care needs were assessed and care preferences identified. Care plans were informative and staff were aware of people’s needs. Staff recognised the importance of supporting people to lead a full and interesting life.

There were systems in place to gain people and their relative’s views about the service and involve them in decision making where possible. There was complaints procedure in place but we could not see that this was in an accessible format and have made a recommendation about this.

Audits were undertaken but were not robust and did not always identify shortfalls. We have recommended that the audits are further developed and form the basis of an overall improvement plan.