Blackhurst Care Home

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 carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Blackhurst Care Home 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. Blackhurst Care Home 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 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.

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 Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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 spoke with 4 people using the service and 2 family members. We also spoke with 3 staff including the registered manager and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. We looked at 2 people’s care plans and medicine administration records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We received information from 2 healthcare professionals who have regular contact with the service. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were also reviewed, including training records, incident records, quality assurance processes and various policies and procedures.

Updated 21 June 2023

About the service

Blackhurst Care Home is a care home providing personal care to five people with sensory impairment, mental health conditions, learning disabilities and/or autism at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 6 people in one adapted building. It is locate in the village community of Longnor, outside of Shrewsbury.

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

Effective risk management plans were in place. Risk assessments were updated and clear guidelines in place to guide staff as to how to support people.

The numbers and skills of staff matched the needs of people using the service. Staff recruitment and induction training processes promoted safety. Staff knew how to consider people's individual needs, wishes and goals. People were supported by staff who followed systems and processes to prescribe, administer, record and store medicines safely.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care from staff who used positive, respectful language which people understood and responded well to. Staff knew people well and interacted positively with them.

Staff helped people to have freedom of choice and control over what they did. People were supported to participate in their chosen social and leisure interests on a regular basis.

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 culture

Governance processes were effective in ensuring records management was consistent to keep people safe, protect people's rights and provide good quality care and support. Important incidents were being reported to the Care Quality Commission.

The provider sought feedback from people and those important to them and used the feedback to develop the service.

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 25 October 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the welfare of people. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions 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.

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.

The overall rating for the service has remained good, based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Blackhurst Care Home 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.