The Pines

The Pines is a care home without nursing providing accommodation and personal care for people with learning disabilities and/ or autism. The care home accommodates 6 people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection there were 4 people using the service.

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. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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

Right Support: Although there were systems in place to support people and keep them safe, when issues were found, these were not always addressed straight away. Medicines were not stored in a safe way and checks had not identified this. Food items were not stored in the recommended ways for the produce.

Not all staff received the training they needed before starting their role and refresher training was not always completed when required.

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: Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. People's dignity was promoted and staff demonstrated knowledge around people's individual communication preferences. Relatives mostly provided positive feedback about the care and support provided.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Staff knew people well and were responsive to their needs. People were supported to participate in activities and maintain relationships with those who were important to them.

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

This service was registered with us on 02 April 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

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 was requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. 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.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to the management of medicines, storage of food and drink, safety monitoring and management, infection prevention control and quality assurance systems.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Full information about CQC's regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

We found the following examples of good practice.

There were clear polices and processes in place to enable people to have visitors to the home which followed government guidance.

People were supported to use other methods to stay in touch such as telephone calls, letter and video calls.

People were supported to understand the need for personal protective equipment, social distancing and how to keep safe.

Staff had been trained in procedures including how to use Personal Protective Equipment, handwashing and how to minimise the risks from Covid-19.

There were systems in place to ensure the home was clean and maintained, including cleaning schedules which showed when different areas had been cleaned. The registered manager was supported internally by staff and others and from external agencies to stay up to date on current guidance.