Badgers Lodge

About the service

Badgers Lodge is a nursing home that provides personal and nursing care to up to 10 people with complex learning disabilities or mental health and physical health care needs. At the time of this inspection there were 10 people using the service.

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

Right Support:

The service provided care and support in a well-equipped, well-furnished, and well-maintained environment that met people's sensory and physical needs. The service enables people living there to access the local community and its amenities. The premises did not feel unfriendly, intimidating or instutionalised.

People were able to use communal areas as they wished and to have ‘quiet time’ if they wanted to be alone.

People were supported by staff to take part in activities both ‘in-house’ and within the local community.

Staff enabled people to access healthcare provision and services as needed.

Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs having received formal training in specific communication language programmes such as Makaton.

Right Care:

People received care and support that was kind and caring. Staff protected people’s right to privacy and ensured they were treated with dignity and respect.

Staff understood how to protect people from harm and abuse.

People’s care plans reflected their needs and the level of support to be required by staff. Relatives confirmed they had been involved with their family member’s care plan and were aware of the information recorded.

Right Culture:

Staff were responsive to people’s care and support needs.

Staff felt valued and supported.

Staff were aware of the ethos and values of the provider.

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 29 June 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.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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 Requires Improvement to Good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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

About the service

Badgers Lodge is a nursing home that provides personal and nursing care to up to 10 people with complex learning disabilities or mental health and physical health care needs. At the time of this inspection there were 10 people using the service.

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

Right Support

• The service did not provide care and support in a well-equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met people’s sensory and physical needs. However, people were able to personalise their rooms.

• People did not benefit from an interactive and stimulating environment. There were equipment/tools available to support this, but lack of communal space and cluttered rooms meant they could not always be used effectively.

• Staff were not always able to support people to take part in activities and pursue their interests due to lack of staff and issues with the physical environment at the property.

• Staff supported people with their medicines, but these were not always stored appropriately.

• Staff supported people to make decisions. However, documentation was not always clear. We have made a recommendation about mental capacity assessments.

• The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative.

• Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

Right care

• The provider had not enabled staff to give people kind and compassionate care.

• The service did not always have enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

• People could not always communicate with staff and understand information given to them because not all staff knew them well and understood their individual communication needs.

• Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people.

• 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.

• People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs.

Right culture

• People did not always receive good quality care, support and treatment. Although staff were trained and understood best practice in relation to how to support people living at the service they did not always have time to provide care that was tailored to individual needs.

• Some staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. However, staff turnover meant people did not always receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

• People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. However, this was not always reviewed regularly by staff involving the person and their families.

• The service did not always take action in response to the views of people and those important to them. We have made a recommendation about the complaints process.

• We have made a recommendation about end of life care planning.

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 the service under the previous provider was requires improvement, published on 30 January 2019.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture.

Enforcement

For enforcement decisions taken during the period that the ‘COVID-19 – Enforcement principles and decision-making framework’ applies, add the following paragraph: 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 staffing levels and competency, meeting people’s individual needs and personal care as well as the systems to ensure management of risk, incident reporting, and governance processes to monitor and improve the service.

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

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.