Background to this inspection
Updated
16 November 2022
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 carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
SENSE - 163 Newington Road 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. SENSE - 163 Newington Road 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
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We communicated with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. Some people did not communicate with us verbally and were supported by staff to communicate using sign language or deafblind manual. Deafblind manual is a way to communicate using only touch. We also spoke with two relatives.
We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, senior care staff and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included all or parts of three people's care records and medication records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, training records and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
16 November 2022
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.
About the service
SENSE - 163 Newington Road is a residential care home providing personal care to four people the time of the inspection. The service can support up to four people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they were happy living at the service. When we asked people if they liked living there one person signed ‘happy’ and another person beamed a big smile in response. Relatives were also happy with the service. One relative said, “[My relative has] really bloomed there. [They are] happy there and can express [themselves]. [They] like the atmosphere.
Right Support:
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.
People were supported to make day to day choices and set goals and aspirations. When decisions needed to be made on people’s behalf staff followed appropriate processes to ensure decisions made were in the person best interest.
Right Care:
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. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and staff knew people’s needs well.
The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Safe recruitment processes were followed. People received their medicines as prescribed and medicines were managed safely. The service was clean, and people were protected from the risk of infection.
Right Culture:
Staff were motivated and felt well supported. There was a positive culture at the service and people benefited from being supported by happy staff which was reflected in the atmosphere at the service. Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. People and those important to them were involved in planning their care.
When incidents occurred, these were reported, and action was taken to reduce the risk of incidents re-occurring. Regular audits were undertaken to ensure the quality of the service was maintained. The service worked well in partnership with other health and social care providers such as occupational therapists to ensure people were well supported and safe.
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 18 June 2019).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing and staff not recording incidents. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
For those 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 remained good as a result of our findings on 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 SENSE - 163 Newington Road 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.