Archived: Options Vernon

Updated 7 November 2020

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 was a focussed inspection due to information of concern we had received.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

Options Vernon is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short notice period of the inspection. This was because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We wanted to be sure that no-one at the service was displaying any symptoms of the virus and needed to know about the provider’s infection control procedures to make sure we worked in line with their guidance. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to limit the time we spent at the service.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. We sought feedback from stakeholders that are involved with the service. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person living at the service and five members of staff, including the registered manager, the deputy, the operations manager and two care staff. We spent a short time in the home whilst people were eating their lunch. This allowed us to safely look at areas of the home and gave us an opportunity to observe staff interactions with people.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records, medicine records, and further records relating to the quality assurance of the service, including accident and incident records.

After the inspection

We spoke with three relatives by telephone to gain further feedback around the care delivered.

Updated 7 November 2020

About the service

Options Vernon is a residential care home that provides care and accommodation for people with learning disabilities. The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 14 people. 12 people were living at the service on the day of our inspection. This is larger than current best practice guidance. However, the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

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

Some people were not able to fully verbalise their views and used other methods of communication, for example pictures. Due to people's needs we spent time observing people with the staff supporting them.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

People received personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. This had been effective in supporting people to achieve goals and encouraged them to learn and grow as individuals. People were protected from the risks of harm, abuse or discrimination because staff knew what actions to take if they identified concerns. There were enough staff working to provide the support people needed. Staff understood the risks associated with the people they supported. Risk assessments provided guidance for staff about individual and environmental risks. People received their medicines safely, when they needed them.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the provider had ensured that appropriate infection control procedures for the pandemic were in place to keep people safe. This included increased cleaning and ensuring adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) were available. Staff completed training in relation to COVID-19. We were assured the provider managed infection prevention and control through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the need to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic taking priority, the provider and staff had worked hard to develop strong leadership. Quality monitoring systems had been embedded and morale was high amongst the staff team. We received positive feedback in relation to the care people received and how the service was run. One relative told us, “[My relative] and us are very content and happy. She has a great bond with the staff, and I get on great with the manager”.

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 Good (published 28 February 2018). At this inspection we found no concerns in the key questions we looked at.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection on 22 September 2020 in light of concerns we had received in respect to the care people were receiving. Concerns included, support for staff, accidents and incidents not being reported appropriately and a negative and closed culture at the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. Therefore, this report covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions: Is it Safe? and Is it Well-led?. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.

For those key questions not looked at on this occasion, the ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has not changed from 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 Options Vernon on our website 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.