22 July 2022
During a routine inspection
About the service
80 Meridian Walk 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
The service did not support people to have the maximum choice, control or to be as independent as they could be. While people’s bedrooms were highly personalised, the communal areas of the home were in a poor state of repair and were not homely. For long periods during the inspection people were left with minimal stimulation and engagement while music played and the television was on with a low volume. There was limited evidence that people were supported to explore their interests. People had been assessed as lacking capacity to consent to their care and treatment. Where specific decisions needed to be made, appropriate best interest decision making processes had been followed. People were supported by staff to take their medicines, but records contained conflicting information about what medicines people were prescribed.
Right Care
Staff knew about people’s cultural backgrounds, but there was a reliance on people’s families to meet cultural needs. Staff knew people and their needs but did not demonstrate compassion or respect in their interactions with people. Information about people’s communication needs and styles was limited and some information showed misunderstandings about different tools of communication. People’s care was not planned in line with best practice guidance; people were not supported to identify goals or ambitions. People were not receiving care as planned and were rarely supported with activities and were not active members of their community.
Right culture
Staff were not ambitious for the people they supported and did not show they understood how to engage people with all aspects of their own lives. The service had recently recruited additional staff but the use of agency staff to fill rotas remained high. The agency staff were well known to people but the way staff were deployed showed there was a task focussed approach to support. The provider had allowed a culture of low ambition and aspiration to flourish in this home.
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 good (published 26 February 2018)
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right Support Right Care Right Culture.
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.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to Person Centred Care, Dignity and Respect, Safe Care and Treatment and Good Governance.
We served the provider and registered manager with Warning Notices which required them to meet the regulations by a specified date.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.
If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.
For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it. And it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.