Fern Court

Updated 11 March 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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

Two Inspectors and an expert by experience carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Fern Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Fern Court is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. A manager had been in place since March 2022, they have applied to CQC to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We considered the feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in May 2022 in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We 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 spoke with 4 people who lived at Fern Court. We spoke with 8 people’s relatives about their experience of the care and support provided by the service.

We spoke with 9 staff including the manager, deputy manager, 2 senior support workers, 4 support workers and an activity co-ordinator. We also spoke with the nominated individual of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We sought feedback from 3 professionals who work with the service.

Updated 11 March 2023

About the service

Fern Court is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 13 people. The service provides support to people who may have a learning disability, mental health condition or autism. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people using the service.

Accommodation was divided between 2 buildings; Fern Court and Fern Lodge. Some rooms provide en suite accommodation. Everyone living at Fern Court had access to a communal living room, kitchen and dining area and had access to a shower and bathroom. The grounds around the property were extensive, accessible and secure.

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.

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

Based on our review of safe and well-led the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture

Right Support

Staff supported people with their medicines. Staff followed recognised good practice in relation to medicine management.

People were being supported to have choice about their living environment and were being encouraged to personalise their rooms and communal spaces in the home. Changes had been made to the home to provide people with different areas they could enjoy.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health, dental care and social care support. Staff supported people living at Fern Court to access the local community and enjoyable activities which reflected their needs and interests.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs, keep them safe and support them to access the community.

Right Care

People's care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs. People’s care plans were detailed and reviewed. The provider was in the process of implementing an electronic care planning system.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. Staff understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff had received effective training and support to provide care effectively.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. A safeguarding lead had been nominated for Fern Court.

People could take part in activities of their choosing at home or in the wider community and pursue their own interests.

Right culture

People were now being supported to lead inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. The manager and provider recognised there was still room for improvement regarding this.

The provider had implemented a new management structure and continued to work with external professionals to help embed a stable and supportive management and staff team who support people to receive consistent care.

Mental Capacity Act

Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. Where people were living under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards; staff understood the support they required.

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.

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 Requires Improvement (published 9 August 2022).

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 5 and 6 July 2022. A Breach of the legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements.

This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For the key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed to Good. This is based on the findings of this inspection.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Fern Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.