The Cherries

Updated 6 April 2022

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.

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

Two inspectors carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

The Cherries 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

This inspection was unannounced. We visited the service on 27 January 2022. We continued to review evidence and speak to staff and relatives until 7 February 2022.

What we did before inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information we had received about the service since registration. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one relative about their experience of the care provided. People used their body language to communicate they did not want to engage with the inspectors during the inspection.

We spoke with eight members of staff including the operations director, registered manager, deputy manager, team leader and four support workers.

We spent as much time observing people as they allowed us to.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s medication records. We looked at three 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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and four people’s support plans. We spoke with one professional who regularly visit the service.

Updated 6 April 2022

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.

About the service

The Cherries is a residential care home providing personal care to six people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to six people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right Support

Staff supported people to take part in activities and to pursue their interests. Though people learnt new skills further improvement was required to develop goals and plans for staff to follow consistently.

People were able to personalise their room. Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that achieved the best possible health outcome.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support.

Staff did everything they could to avoid using physical intervention. The service recorded when staff had used physical intervention, and staff learned from these incidents and how they might be avoided and reduced.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives.

Right culture

Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as possible. Staff valued and acted on people’s and their relative’s views.

People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

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

Rating

This service was registered with us on 23 July 2019 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good, published on 8 August 2019.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture. The service had not been inspected since registration with the Care Quality Commission.

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 have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Cherries on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.