Healy House

Updated 17 January 2023

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 carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Healy House 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. Healy House 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service and 2 family members. We spoke with six staff members. These included 1 cleaner, 2 mental health support workers, a home manager, and the registered manager. We spoke to the nominated individual after the visit. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We looked at 2 people’s care records, associated documents, medicines records and medicines related documentation. We also looked at records relating to the operation and management of the service. We undertook a tour of the building, observed medicines administration and their storage, and completed observations of support provided in the communal areas.

Updated 17 January 2023

About the service

Healy House is a residential care home providing personal care to 6 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 12.

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:

People's independence was promoted and staff encouraged people to take control of their own care through weekly reviews. Risk assessments and strategies were in place and reviewed to keep people safe.

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; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff understood and responded to peoples’ individual needs. A multidisciplinary approach was taken towards peoples’ care. The provider had systems to safely manage and store medications. Infection prevention and control measures were in place and being followed. Safety and environmental checks were being made of the premises. We observed radiators without safety covers and furniture in need of securing to keep people safe. The provider took immediate actions to address this.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care, support and treatment because staff were working with the registered manager to meet people’s outcomes. Governance systems were in place to oversee the service and ensure learning and development. Safeguarding referrals was being made to the local authority however we made a recommendation to the provider to ensure notifications are made to the CQC where appropriate. People provided positive feedback on the service. Relatives felt more communication would be beneficial. People’s and staff voice were encouraged, feedback was being sought through surveys and house meetings.

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 4 July 2019).

Why we inspected

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.

We received concerns in relation to the culture of the service and the cleanliness of the environment. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Healy House 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.