Kimbolton

Updated 7 February 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Kimbolton is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Kimbolton 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 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

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 10 January 2023. We visited the service on 10 and 15 January 2023. We spoke with people's relatives on the telephone on 19 January 2023.

What we did before 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. 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 who used the service and 2 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spent time observing how staff supported people in their day to day lives at the service.

We spoke with 6 members of staff including support workers, senior support workers, and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 7 February 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

Kimbolton is a residential care home which can support up to 6 people. At time of the inspection 5 autistic people or people living with a learning disability were being supported with personal care. People have their own personalised bedrooms and bathrooms and access to shared communal areas such as a kitchen, lounges and a garden.

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

Right Support:

Reasonable adjustments were made so that people could be fully involved in discussions about their support. Staff communicated with people in their identified and preferred methods.

People benefitted from an interactive and stimulating home environment and were supported not to feel isolated.

Staff supported people to be independent if this was their choice. The management team were continuing to support staff to improve in this area.

People were being supported to pursue their interests and achieve their aspirations and goals. However, these were not always recorded or monitored effectively.

Staff gave people care and support in a clean environment which met their physical needs and people were able to personalise their bedrooms.

The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative.

Staff supported people safely with their medicines.

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 Care:

Staff had the training and knowledge to support people effectively. The management team were improving the way staff members knowledge and competency was being checked.

People’s support plans did not always fully reflect their range of needs and promote their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Staff supported people to assess any risks they might face in a safe way and supported people to take positive risks.

Staff promoted people’s equality and diversity and knew them well as individuals. People received kind and compassionate care which fully promoted their privacy and dignity.

Staff were prompting people to try new things which may enhance their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right Culture:

Audits completed at the service by management had not always picked up on areas that could have been improved.

People and those important to them were involved in planning their support.

People received consistent support from a staff team who knew them well. Staff worked hard to achieve good quality care and good outcomes for people.

People received good quality care and support and were supported to lead inclusive and empowered lives for the most part.

Staff were responsive to people’s needs and worked well together to achieve good outcomes for people. Feedback from people and relatives about the service was positive.

The registered manager and staff team were passionate about continually improving the service and supporting people to achieve their goals and aspirations.

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 09 August 2019).

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 inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.