Croft House is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to six people living with a learning disability and or autism. At the time of inspection there were five people living at the service. Bedrooms were over two floors and there were communal spaces for dining and relaxation and a large outdoor space. People’s experience of using this service and what we found
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 guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.
The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture under the key enquiries we reviewed in the Safe section. People received individual person centred support that promoted and maximised their choice, control and independence in how they lived their lives. Staff had developed positive relationships with people and they clearly knew what was important to them such as their routines and preferences. Staff had a caring and respectful approach and they promoted people's dignity and human rights.
The infection prevention and control practice of managing the current COVID-19 pandemic was found to be well managed. The provider had developed a COVID-19 contingency plan and a service business continuity plan, both were regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes to government guidance. Staff had received training in infection prevention and control, including the requirements of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Staff had access to a good supply of PPE.
Regular COVID -19 testing for people and staff was completed in line with government guidance and people and staff were participating in the COVID -19 vaccination programme. New systems and processes had been implemented for visitors to reduce the risk of infection transmission. Increased cleaning of high touch areas such as door handles and light switches was being completed. The service was found to be clean. During November 2020 an outbreak of COVID-19 at the service was managed by zoning the environment and cohorting staff. This practice reduce the risk of transmission and the infection was contained. People were supported to maintain contact with their relatives.
The deployment of staff was found to be sufficient in meeting people's individual needs and safety. Bank and agency staff including the management team covered any staff shortfalls and new staff were in the process of being recruited. Staff experience, skills and competency was considered when developing the staff rota. Staff demonstrated a good level of awareness and understanding of people's individual needs and risks. Staff were positive about the support and guidance provided by the registered manager.
In the main, risk management was found to be comprehensive and guidance for staff was up to date and detailed. One person's risk plan associated with physical intervention and risks associated with community drives in the services vehicle could have been more detailed, this was discussed with the registered manager who took immediate action. At the time of the inspection contractors were working on site, whilst the provider had a generic risk assessment this was not specific to the service. This was discussed with the registered manager and regional operations manager who agreed to amend the document.
People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Where safeguarding incidents, concerns or allegations had been raised these had been responded to as per the local multi-agency and provider's safeguarding policy and procedures. Action taken by the registered manager and senior managers confirmed all allegations, concerns or incidents were thoroughly investigated and where action was required, this was completed to reduce further risks.
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 6 April 2018).
Why we inspected
We undertook this targeted inspection to check on a specific concern we had about infection, prevention and control practice, staffing levels and risk management. The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains Good.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe section of this full report.
CQC have introduced targeted inspections to check specific concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Croft House 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.