Quinton Lodge

Updated 16 May 2020

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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector, an inspection manager and an Expert by Experience. 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

Quinton Lodge provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started and completed on 11 March 2020 when we visited the office.

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 the information the provider sent us in the provider information return.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, an assistant manager supporting the inspection from another of the providers homes and four care staff. We reviewed a range of records including four people's care plans, medicine records, complaints and two staff recruitment files. We looked at records of accidents/incidents and a variety of records relating to the management of the service including policies and procedures and the provider's quality monitoring records.

Updated 16 May 2020

About the service

Quinton Lodge provides assistance with personal care to people living in their own individual flats with shared facilities. The premises consist of 31 flats. At the time of the inspection all 24 people who were living at Quinton Lodge received personal care. This is where people receive help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People said they felt safe living at Quinton Lodge and received care and support from a consistent group of staff who were kind and respectful towards them. Staff knew about people’s support needs and managed risks associated with people’s health and wellbeing to keep them safe from harm. Staff were aware of how to identify potential abuse and how to protect people from abuse. Staff had been recruited safely and there were sufficient numbers of staff to support people’s needs.

New staff completed an induction and all staff received regular ongoing training to update their knowledge and skills. Checks were made to ensure staff followed the provider's policies and procedures to ensure care was provided to people as required. Staff received ongoing support through supervision meetings with their manager. Staff worked with other professionals to ensure people had access to healthcare support if needed.

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. Staff understood they needed to seek people’s consent before providing care and knew it was important to support people’s independence.

Care plans were person centred and contained instructions for staff to follow to ensure people received care safely and in accordance with choices they had made. People were supported with their medicines during specific care calls and people said they received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff followed the provider’s infection control policy and procedure to prevent the spread of infection and had access to personal protective equipment to maintain good hygiene practice.

People shared positive relationships with staff and were involved in decisions about how their care was provided. People said the staff were caring, supportive and approachable and they felt at ease to raise any concerns with them if needed. Arrangements were in place to provide information in different formats to make it more accessible to people if required.

People felt the service was well managed and were complimentary of management staff. Staff told us they felt supported in their role by the management team. Quality monitoring checks were completed by the provider to ensure any areas of improvement were noted and people received the care and support they should expect. Areas people had identified for improvement had been acted upon. Accidents and incidents people experienced were recorded and monitored by the provider to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

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 14 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.