24 October 2023
During a routine inspection
Aykroyd Lodge is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 5 people with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people living at the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
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.
Right Support
Risks to people’s safety were not always managed and recorded well. 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. However, the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice as capacity assessments and consent to care forms had not been reviewed or updated for a long period of time. We made a recommendation about this. Improvements were needed to the environment to ensure it was suitable for the people living at this service. There were enough skilled and experienced staff to safely care for people and recruitment processes were safe. We were assured IPC practices were safe. Staff supported people with their dietary requirements and to enjoy meaningful activities. Staff treated people with dignity and respect.
Right Care
Medicines were mostly being managed safely. However, we identified shortfalls in this area. We made a recommendation about this. People’s needs were assessed prior to them starting to use the service. However, care plans required work to ensure they were person centred and reflective of people’s current needs. We made a recommendation about this. Although nobody at the service was receiving end of life care, records identified people’s advanced decisions. People were treated well, and their individuality was respected.
Right Culture
Governance systems were not always effective at improving the quality and safety of the service. Audits did not always identify concerns, and when concerns were found, there was limited evidence of what action was taken. There was a complaints procedure in place, but concerns were not always formally logged to identify trends and themes. Staff attended meetings and had regular supervisions. Staff were aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and felt comfortable raising concerns. People’s communication needs were considered. Staff and relatives spoke positively of the manager.
For more details, please see the full report for Aykroyd Lodge which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 17 January 2018)
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to the risks of the health and safety of the people living at this service and good governance. We made recommendations in relation to medicines, consent, and care plans.
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.