Drovers Call

Ratings

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

This assessment was conducted between 25 June to 29 July 2024. We assessed this service due to concerns we had regarding the safe support people received during times of distress. At the last inspection, we found breaches of regulation and concerns in relation to restrictive practices, poor management of medicines, poor leadership and ineffective quality assurance systems. Additionally, there was a failure to identify and report incidents which failed to keep people safe from the risk of harm. We found risks were not managed effectively, there was a lack of staff and care was not person centred. At this assessment, the service had a new registered manager who had made improvements and is the service is now no longer in breach of regulations. Staff now assessed and mitigated risks. Care plans guided safe practice. The provider had enough staff to ensure people’s safety. People were now supported to have choice and control and were involved in planning their care. However, there were still some areas that required continued or further improvement to ensure safe management of medicines, environmental maintenance and person-centred care. This service has been in Special Measures since 26 October 2023. The provider demonstrated improvements had been made. The service is no longer rated inadequate overall or in any of the key questions, therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

People's experience of this service

We are improving how we hear people’s experience and views on services, where people have limited verbal communication. We used a combination of speaking with people and their relatives and reviewing written feedback. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. Some people did experience times where they became distressed and this impacted on other people living at the service. However, people all appeared to be relaxed and at ease when staff were around them and we did not observe people being anxious or fearful. Staff were proactive and reacted early to intervene and offer additional support where required. People told us they were happy with their care, felt safe and were treated well by staff. One person said, “For me it's a perfect place because I want to be in my own space, but I know help is there and I have nothing to worry about.” Relatives feedback was mixed. Most agreed their family members were well taken care of and safe. Some relatives felt communication from staff and managers could improve. Relatives agreed overall there had been improvements and things were more settled. A relative said, “There’s always someone in the area all of the time [staff] are visible now, which is an improvement. It’s more like [my family member’s] home now.”