Summer Wood Residential Care Home

Updated 26 October 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 20 September 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of our visit, to make sure people’s day to day lives would not be disrupted. We also wanted to make sure the right staff would be available to talk with us as part of our inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection the registered manager completed a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return to inform the inspection.

We reviewed the last inspection report and other information including any notifications. Notifications are information we receive when a significant event happens, like a death or a serious injury.

We spoke with two people living in the home. We spoke with two members of staff and the registered manager. We were unable to speak with any relatives. We sampled various records including two care plans, medicines records, staff recruitment policies and other records related to the management of the service. We observed how people were supported and how staff interacted with people.

Updated 26 October 2018

This inspection took place on 20 September 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice so we could be sure the right people would be available when we visited the service. At the last inspection we found three breaches of the regulations regarding risk assessment, recruitment practices, and records and the service was rated as requires improvement in safe, responsive and well-led. Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do, and by when, to improve the key questions of safe, responsive and well led to at least good. At this inspection we found there had been improvements and the breach of regulations had been met and the service is now rated as good.

Summer Wood Residential Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. The service provides accommodation and personal care to up to four people living with a learning disability.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

A registered manager was in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The service continued to be well managed by the provider, long standing registered manager and staff team.

As far as possible, people were protected from harm and abuse. Staff knew how to recognise the signs of abuse and what they should do if they thought someone was a risk. The home was clean, and people were protected from the risks of poor infection and prevention control.

There were enough experienced and suitable staff to support people to stay safe and to meet people’s identified needs and preferences. Staff were supported with training, supervision and appraisals to help them develop the skills they needed to provide good quality care. Staff reported incidents and accidents properly, and if these did occur, the registered manager made sure they were investigated.

People were supported to eat and drink enough. Food was nutritious and people gave us positive feedback about the choice and quality of food. People accessed the healthcare they needed to remain well, such as the GP or practice nurse, and their medicines were managed safely.

People were able to express their choices and preferences and these were respected and promoted by staff. People led the lives they wanted to and staff supported people to go out or join in activities in the home in the least restrictive way possible. People were supported to maintain contact with those people that were important to them.

People experienced compassionate care that met their needs, and were supported by kind, caring staff. People had their privacy and dignity respected, and staff knew what to do to make sure people’s independence was promoted. People experienced person centred care and were supported to be involved in their care reviews as much as they wanted to be. People had their care needs regularly reviewed and updated. The building and environment met the needs and preferences of the people who lived there.

People were asked for their consent before any care was given, and staff made sure they always acted in people’s best interests. The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). These provide legal safeguards for people who may be deprived of their liberty for their own safety or unable to make informed choices about their care.

The registered manager was well regarded and staff felt supported. People’s views were asked for and the provider had taken action to improve the quality of service after feedback from the last inspection. People experienced good quality care and staff provided good support. The registered manager and staff had taken action and had made the improvements that were needed, so the regulations were now being met and the service was rated good. Further information is in the detailed findings below.