Rother Valley View

Updated 15 November 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 3 inspectors and 1 medicines inspector.

Service and service type

Rother Valley View 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. Rother Valley View 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

This 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 1 relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the quality and compliance manager, area manager, registered manager, team leader, support workers and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We carried out observations of care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 15 November 2022

About the service

Rother Valley View is a residential care home providing the regulated activity of accommodation and personal care to up to 6 people. The service provides support to adults with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 3 people using the service. The home consisted of 6 self-contained flats in one building. People had access to a communal kitchen, dining and living room and a large enclosed garden.

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.

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

Right Support:

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 model of care and setting maximised people's choice, control and independence. Risks to people were assessed, monitored and managed safely. Systems in place to protect people had been strengthened but needed further strengthening to ensure all incidents are reported. The provider had acted to manage infection risks. There were enough staff to safely meet people's needs. Staff had the necessary skills, knowledge or experience to know how to meet people's needs. People's medicine support was managed safely.

Right Care:

Care was person-centred or delivered in a way which promoted people's dignity, privacy and human rights. Staff offered people choices and involved them when supporting them with activities and meals. Recommendations and actions identified by partnership agencies regarding people's support needs were promptly implemented to ensure people achieved good outcomes.

Right Culture:

The internal quality assurance systems and processes to audit or review service performance and the safety and quality of care had been strengthened. These systems needed to be embedded into practice to ensure improvements were sustained. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff had improved to ensure all people using the service could lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. People were now being supported to regularly identify, or review, on-going individual aspirations and life goals. Internal systems for supporting staff were now robust which led to staff feeling supported and confident in their role.

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 inadequate (published 30 May 2022). 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. At our last inspection we recommended that the provider updates their monitoring and reviewing systems for Mental Capacity Act [MCA]. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendations and had made improvements.

This service has been in Special Measures since 17 June 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. 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, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

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