Station Road

Updated 19 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one specialist nurse advisor in Learning Disabilities.

Service and service type: Station Road is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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: The inspection was unannounced.

What we did: Before the inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as serious injury and police callouts; and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection, we spoke with four people who used the service and three relatives by telephone. We spoke with the registered manager, operations director and four care staff.

We reviewed four people’s care records which included care plans, risk assessments and daily observations. We reviewed medicines records for all nine people. We reviewed four staff files and checked recruitment, training and supervision records. We checked other records associated with the running of the service such as staff rota’s, accidents and incidents records and quality audits.

After the inspection we requested additional evidence to be sent to us. This was received, and the information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 19 July 2019

About the service: Station Road is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 12 people with learning disabilities. The home is a large detached house. The home was set out over three floors with a self-contained flat where two people lived. On the day of the inspection, nine people were living at the service.

The service had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with a learning disability were supported to live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and relatives told us the staff were kind, friendly and dedicated. Staff were knowledgeable around people's needs.

People were not always protected from the risk of avoidable harm as staff were not always providing care as per people’s care plan and risk assessment.

Processes were in place to ensure that people could raise concerns. Complaints were investigated and responded to.

The service was working to a service improvement plan with support from the local placing authority. Checks and audits were carried out to determine the quality of the care. The provider had acted on some areas already identified for improvement.

Overall staff morale was poor with concerns raised about staff and management working relationships. The management team assured us these concerns were being addressed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Medicines were safely managed.

There were enough staff available to ensure people’s care needs were met. Staff were safely recruited and received regular training.

People were supported to attend and engage in activities in the local community which were of interest or benefit to them.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published January 2018).

Why we inspected: The inspection was brought forward due to information of concern that we had received in relation to people's care. The inspection was prompted in part by information we had received from the local authority where concerns had been raised around aspects of care delivery. At the time of the inspection, the service was subject to enhanced monitoring by the local authority safeguarding and quality team. The service was working on a service improvement plan.

However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about unsafe medicines management, risk management and staffing levels. This inspection examined those risks.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk