Fairlawn

Updated 22 February 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and a Specialist Professional Advisor, who was a registered mental health nurse.

Service and service type

Fairlawn 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

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

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and what improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made judgements in this report. We reviewed the evidence we held about the service, which included the last inspection report and any notifications of significant events which the provider is required by legislation to send us. We contacted Healthwatch Lewisham. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who lived at the service. We also spoke with a support worker, the recovery manager, the operational manager and a director. We looked at a variety of records, which included the care plans and accompanying risk assessments for two people. We also checked other documents which included accidents and incidents records, the complaints log and compliments folder, medicine administration records, four staff files for recruitment, training, supervision and appraisals, quality assurance audits, and health and safety checks.

After the inspection

We spoke by telephone with the relative of one person who used the service. We contacted three health and

social care professionals and received their comments. The registered manager was on emergency leave on the day of the inspection and sent us written information to expand upon evidence we gathered during our visit.

Updated 22 February 2020

About the service

Fairlawn is a residential care home providing personal care to people with mental health conditions. The service can support up to five people and there were four people using the service at the time of the inspection. The home is an ordinary three-storey domestic property with a rear garden, within walking distance of local transport links and amenities.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

People were safely supported by staff and systems were in place to identify and minimise risks to their safety and wellbeing.

People's individual needs were assessed before they moved in to ensure the service could provide the right care and support.

Staff developed care plans with people, to ensure these plans were person-centred and took account of people's own ideas and wishes to achieve recovery with their mental health. People's aspirations and preferences were incorporated into their care plans. Staff respected people's choices, and provided sensitive support and guidance where individual choices could negatively impact on people's safety, health and welfare.

People were supported to meet their mental health, nutritional and physical healthcare needs by staff with appropriate training and experience. People were supported to access external healthcare support. Staff understood how to protect people from the risk of abuse. People's medicine needs were safely met and they were provided with a clean and hygienic home.

People's rights to be cared for with dignity and privacy were respected by a caring and compassionate staff team. People's cultural and religious needs were respected and staff supported them where required to meet these needs.

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.

People engaged in fulfilling activities at home and in the wider community, for example healthy eating cookery sessions, gardening groups and visits to the gym. Activities were planned to support people to combat social isolation and promote their mental health recovery.

People, and their relatives where applicable, were encouraged to participate in meetings and/or complete surveys to express their opinions about the quality of the service. People and their representatives understood how to make a complaint about the service, if they wished to.

The provider had clear systems in place to monitor and audit the quality of people's care and support, and take corrective actions to respond to any deficits they found.

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 09 October 2018) and there were two 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

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.