Duckyls Farm Centre

Updated 25 May 2022

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

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Duckyls Farm Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Duckyls Farm Centre 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 not a registered manager in post. The current manager had been in post since 2019. Their proposed registration with CQC has been delayed due to events beyond their control.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

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 monthly reports sent to us by the manager as part of the conditions on the provider's registration. We contacted two local authorities to obtain their feedback. We received feedback from two professionals who work with staff at the home. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke three people who used the service and contacted three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke to four members of staff including the manager and three support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and two medication records. We looked at two 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.

Updated 25 May 2022

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 statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

About the service

Duckyls Farm Centre is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to 10 people with learning disabilities and autism. There were nine people living at the home on the day of our inspection. The home was a large adapted farmhouse building that combined a self- contained flat and main building over two floors.

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

Right Support

Staff supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence be independent and they had control over their own lives. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. Each person had their own en-suite rooms, which were personalised to meet their needs and preferences. The home had extensive communal and shared space for which people could undertake individual activities as well group ones. The home was complimented with extensive grounds, that comprised of farm areas and fields that people were supported to use. People took an active role in activities and tasks on the farm. One person recalled excitedly about their work and involvement with the animals on the farm. One relative said, “The management have increased the activities inclusive of mental and physical demands.”

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 did everything they could to avoid restraining people. The service recorded when staff restrained people, and staff learned from those incidents and how they might be avoided or reduced.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making.

Right care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. One professional said, “I have always found the manager and her team really helpful. They work in a person-centred way supporting the resident I have placed there to make choices and be as independent as possible ensuring their interests, faith and care needs are met holistically with dignity and respect.”

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 9 July 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. 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

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

This was a planned focused inspection based on the previous rating. We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 7 and 9 May 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found.

Following the last inspection in May 2019, we imposed conditions on the provider's registration. CQC imposed the conditions due to repeated and significant concerns about the quality and safety of care by the provider. The conditions meant that the provider was required to send to the CQC information regarding the homes restraint policy and training. The provider was also required to send CQC monthly information about incidents and accidents, safeguarding referrals, Mental Capacity Assessments and information about lessons learnt. We used this information to help us review and monitor the service and actions to improve, and to inform our inspections. We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan, to confirm they now met legal requirements and continued to meet the requirements imposed on their Registration.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

Follow up

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