6 January 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Heathcotes Wolsey House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to a maximum of six people in one adapted building. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people . At the time of our inspection there were six people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were protected from the risks of abuse and harm and people said they trusted staff to keep them safe. Staff had received training in safeguarding people. Staff we spoke with were confident to report concerns and satisfied that action would be taken to investigate the concerns.
People's care needs were risk assessed and care plans provided staff with the information they needed to manage the identified risk. Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed. Risk assessments were reviewed following incidents to ensure the service was meeting the needs of people appropriately. Medicines were managed safely. People’s medicine needs were risk assessed and they were supported to manage their medicines independently where appropriate. Staff were trained to administer medicines. Appropriate infection prevention and control measures were in place.
Recruitment checks were robust to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. During the inspection we observed appropriate levels of staffing to support the people who used the service.
The registered manager and staff demonstrated a commitment to people and they displayed strong person-centred values. Staff praised the registered manager and wider management team, they felt supported in their roles. The service worked in partnership with other health and social care organisations and the community to achieve better outcomes for people using the service.
People’s views and decisions about support were incorporated in their care plans. This helped staff to support people in a way that allowed people to have control over their lives. There was a good culture within the service which had a positive impact on people.
Staff, people and their relative's views had been sought through regular contact, surveys and quality monitoring. Regular management and staff meetings were held. Regular meetings with people also took place where people had the opportunity to express what they thought about the service and whether anything could be improved.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people .
Based on our review of key questions safe and well-led, the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Care plans were detailed and person-centred. The care plans provided guidance for staff about how best to support people's needs and preferences; encouraging people’s choice, control and independence.
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 13 January 2020). 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
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 31 October 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.
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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
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 changed from requires improvement to 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 Heathcotes Wolsey 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.