20 April 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Abingdon is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to nine people. There were nine people living at the home at the time of this inspection. The home accommodates people with a learning disability and/or autism.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were safe from harm as the service had assessed for risks, including the risk of the spread of infection. People’s records were accurate and up to date.
People said they felt safe living at the home. Staff knew service users well. Staff had safeguarding training, and any concerns were monitored and managed by staff.
There were enough staff as the service had taken initiative in active recruitment. People told us they felt there were enough staff and that there was always plenty of staff to speak to. There was a consistent and stable staff team meaning service users had positive interactions.
We found a positive atmosphere within the home. Service users told us they were happy and that staff were able to support them with anything.
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.
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.
This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
The home did not have any distinguishable features which identified it as a care home. The staff were able to manage the service like a small personalised home. There were communal areas for people to use as they wished, and private spaces also. The office door remained open at all times and service users felt comfortable using this area and talking to staff.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 March 2021) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous 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.
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 27 and 29 October 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. We identified breaches in relation to infection prevention and control measures.
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 and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Abingdon on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.