Stepping Stones

Updated 19 August 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

This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and 2 Experts by Experiences who spoke with people and made telephone calls to people’s relatives with their consent. 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

Stepping Stones is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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

Notice of inspection

The first day of this inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the 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 reviewed the information we held about the service, including notifications we had received. Notifications are changes, events, or incidents the provider is legally required to tell us about within required timescales. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used this information to plan the inspection.

During the inspection

We spent time with and spoke with 10 people living at the service, 8 relatives, 5 members of staff, 2 visitors and the registered manager. To help us assess and understand how people's care needs were being met we reviewed 6 people's care records. We also reviewed a number of records relating to the running of the service. These included staff recruitment and training records, medicine records and records associated with the provider's quality assurance systems. We also spoke with and received feedback from partner agencies.

After the inspection we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records, policies and procedures and risk assessments.

Updated 19 August 2023

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

Stepping Stones is a residential care home that provides personal care and support for up to 15 people with a learning disability, autism or who have complex needs associated with their mental health. At the time of the inspection there were 14 people living at the service.

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

Right Support:

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff were not always supporting people in the least restrictive way possible. The service could not always demonstrate they were acting in people’s best interests.

People had fulfilling days and staff supported people by focussing on their strengths and encouraging people to be independent. People were supported to receive specialist health and social care support locally in line with their assessed needs. The service was homely, clean and people's bedrooms were personalised.

Right Care:

Staff respected the people they supported and provided care that was caring and compassionate. People were encouraged to take positive risks to enhance their wellbeing and support plans reflected their individual needs and preferences.

Right Culture:

The ethos, values and attitudes of staff helped to ensure people using the service were enabled to lead confident, inclusive, and empowered lives. Staff understood their role in making sure that people were always put first, and their care and support was tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

People knew how to make a complaint and felt confident they would be listened to if they needed to raise concerns. The management team had created an open and transparent culture, where constructive feedback was encouraged.

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 7 November 2019). The service remains rated requires improvement. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

This service has been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Stepping Stones on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, need for consent, deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS), recruitment and good governance. We have also made recommendations in relation to staffing levels and accessibility of information. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.