About the service: Kingly Croft provides accommodation for up to six adults with acquired brain injuries and neurological conditions. The staff team includes a dedicated team of occupational therapists, a speech and language therapist and a physiotherapist to assist people with their support and rehabilitation. There were five people using the service at the time of our visit.People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The use of agency staff who didn’t always know people well, placed them at potential risk. People were at risk of not getting the care and support they needed, when they needed it, or in a timely manner. This was because the staff at times, were required to support the staff at Kingly Croft’s sister service, Kingly House.
The service was without a registered manager therefore the providers operations manager was acting as manager. Whilst some monitoring of the service took place, this was neither fully formalised or robust.
Comprehensive care plans were in place however, documentation within them didn’t always correspond, providing inaccurate information to the reader. This compromised the support provided by agency staff.
People felt safe living at Kingly Croft and staff were aware of their responsibility to keep people safe from avoidable harm. People’s medicines were managed safely and in line with manufacturer’s instructions. Staff had received training in medicines management and their competency had been checked.
Risks associated with people’s care and support had been assessed and managed and the providers infection control policy was followed. Lessons were learned when things went wrong to improve the service provided.
Staff were provided with relevant training and felt supported in their role. They were kind and caring and treated people with respect. They supported people to make decisions about their care on a daily basis.
People were provided with a comfortable and homely place to live. They were provided with a balanced diet and support from healthcare professionals was sought when required.
People’s consent to their care was sought. They 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.
When people had concerns or complaints, these were handled appropriately. Staff meetings and meetings for the people using the service had been held, though records of these were not always available. The management team worked in partnership with others for the benefit of the people using the service.
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 outstanding (published 2 August 2017) Since this rating was awarded the provider has changed its legal entity. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected: The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received around staffing levels and the overall management of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, responsive and well led section of this full report.
The overall rating for the service has changed from outstanding to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.