The Acorns

Updated 14 December 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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

The Acorns 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. The Acorns is a care without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This service is also a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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

The inspection was unannounced.

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 and professionals 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 2 people who used the service and relatives to gain their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, team leaders, care workers and support workers. We reviewed a range of records, including people's care records and medicine records. We looked at 2 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 14 December 2023

About the service

The Acorns is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 5 people. The service also has a domiciliary care agency (DCA) and supported living registration. The service provides support to people with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection there were 4 people using the residential service and 1 person using the DCA.

People’s experience of the 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 assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

Risks associated with people’s care were identified and actions were taken to minimise risk and keep people safe. Building and maintenance checks were carried at appropriately. We identified some concerns regarding infection control which were addressed by the registered manager.

People received their medicines as prescribed by staff who were trained and competent in the safe handling of medicines. We found some minor issues regarding medication record keeping.

Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed to ensure risks were identified and mitigated and lessons were learnt.

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 told us they enjoyed living at the home and felt staff were kind, caring and supported them well. Relatives were complimentary about the support and care their family member received.

Right Culture

Systems in place to monitor the service were not always effective and instrumental in identifying concerns and taking appropriate actions. We have made a recommendation that systems are embedded into practice.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 30 November 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Acorns 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.