HF Trust - Chy Keres

Updated 4 July 2023

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 an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Chy Keres 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. Chy Keres 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. They had been supporting another HF Trust service for several months and the service was being overseen by an acting manager with the support of the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 6 June 2023 and ended on 8 June 2023. We visited the service on 6 June 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included notifications of incidents and other contact with the provider. 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 met 3 people who were staying at the service. We also met the registered manager, the deputy manager and 3 care staff. We looked at the care records for 3 people who were staying at the service. We looked at the recruitment, training, and support records of 3 members of staff. In addition, we viewed other records the provider used for managing the service which included records of meetings and quality monitoring. As part of the inspection, we looked at how medicines were stored, recorded, and administered.

After the inspection site visit, we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We contacted 8 relatives and an external professional to obtain feedback on their experience of the service.

Updated 4 July 2023

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.

About the service

HF Trust – Chy Keres (Chy Keres) is a care home providing a respite service for up to six autistic people or people who have a learning disability. The service provides support to approximately 40 people through periods of planned respite throughout the year. At any one time the service can accommodate a maximum of 6 people. The service also supports people who need respite on an emergency basis. There were 4 people using the service at the time of the inspection visit, 3 of these were visiting the service for respite care and 1 person was on an emergency placement and was expected to live at the service for the next few weeks. The service is provided by HF Trust (Hft), a national charity with services throughout England.

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 policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

The environment was safe and clean and met people’s physical and sensory needs. There was plenty of outdoor space where people could spend their time. There were plans in place to further improve the garden.

Right Care

Medicines were safely managed by trained staff who administered people's medicines in line with the prescriber's instructions.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe.

Occasionally the service provided emergency support for people. Care was taken to help ensure staff were able to get a good understanding of people’s needs in a short time.

Right Culture

People received good quality care and support by trained staff that could meet their needs and wishes.

Staff knew and understood people well. Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well.

Chy Keres had a strong identity as a service committed to providing meaningful respite care for the benefit of people and their families.

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 9 July 2018).

At our last inspection we made a recommendation about providing regular staff supervisions. At this inspection we found staff were receiving face to face supervisions and other informal support.

Why we inspected

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

This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe, effective and well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for HF Trust – Chy Keres on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation in relation to health and safety audits in the report.

Follow up

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