St Chads House

Updated 21 June 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

The inspection was undertaken by 1 Inspector. After the site visit, an Assistant Inspector sought feedback from relatives.

Service and service type

St Chads House 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. St Chads House is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before 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 (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 reviewed various records in relation to the running of the service, including checks, audits, care-plans and recruitment files. We undertook a visual inspection of the premises and met the 4 people living in the service. We spoke with 5 staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and care staff. We received feedback from 1 professional. After the site visit, we sought feedback from 3 relatives.

Updated 21 June 2023

About the service

St Chads House is a residential care home providing personal care to 4 people at the time of the inspection. The service supports autistic people and people with learning disabilities. The service can support up to 4 people.

Accommodation is laid out over 2 floors in a former domestic property. People have level access to a communal lounge, kitchen-diner and large garden. The registered manager’s office is on the first floor.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: People were supported to retain their independence including in relation to finances and medicines. Risk assessments provided guidance for staff about how to keep people safe, including when accessing the community.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care: People received person-centred support from staff who were kind and caring. Staff ensured people’s dignity and privacy was respected. People were supported in line with the Equality Act 2010.

Right Culture: The provider and registered manager had oversight of care quality and safety in the service. Lessons were learned and measures were implemented to help prevent a recurrence. Staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs.

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 good (published 01 June 2018). The service remains rated good.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to the length of time since our last inspection and due to the limited information we held about this service. A decision was made for us to inspect this service.

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 those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St Chads House 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.