Background to this inspection
Updated
20 June 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector, an assistant inspector and a mental health inspector on the first day. One adult social care inspector and a specialist professional advisor carried out the second day of inspection.
Service and service type:
Thorpe House Specialist Mental Health Unit is a 'care home' with nursing. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. However, the manager was not at the service at the time of the inspection and was due to relinquish the role. There was an acting manager in post.
Notice of inspection:
The first day of inspection was unannounced. The second day was announced.
What we did:
Prior to our inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service. This included information from notifications received from the registered provider, feedback from the local authority safeguarding team and commissioners. We reviewed all the information we had been provided with from third parties to fully inform our approach to inspecting this service.
Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This information was used to help inform our inspection.
During the inspection we spoke with the acting manager, the business development manager, the deputy manager, a registered nurse, a support worker, two occupational therapists, the chef, and the nutritionist. We also spoke with a visiting professional and a pharmacist over the telephone. We spoke with six people living at the service.
We reviewed five care plans and associated records. We reviewed all the quality assurance records and checks on the building to ensure it was safe.
Following the inspection, we made contact with two professionals who regularly visited the service.
Updated
20 June 2019
About the service: Thorpe House Specialist Adult Mental Health Unit Limited is a specialist mental health service which is registered to provide care to 21 people. They offered both long term and short-term placements with emphasis on promoting independence and rehabilitation. There were 21 people living there at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe at the service. Staff, relatives and professionals confirmed in their opinion people were safe.
Some risk assessments lacked the detail required to guide staff to manage the risk of harm. We have made a recommendation to seek further guidance around this.
Maintenance checks on the environment were robust and the service had an onsite maintenance person to coordinate any response required.
Systems were in place to record accidents and incidents. The management team had identified by recording near misses, and a more detailed analysis of incidents, they would have a better insight to prevent future incidents.
People were supported by staff who received appropriate training and support to carry out their roles and responsibilities. Staff felt supported by the management team.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were able to make choices and were involved in decisions about their care.
We saw people leaving the home independently and accessing the community throughout the inspection.
Staff were quick to identify changes in people’s needs and worked closely with other health professionals, so people’s health and well-being was maintained. A nutritionist had been employed to maximise people’s wellbeing through good nutrition. A “hydrations station” had recently been introduced to increase people’s fluid intake and had already had a positive impact
Staff were kind and caring, treating people with respect and maintaining their dignity. People's care and support had been planned in partnership with them, and regularly reviewed to ensure they achieved their goals. People were supported to retain independence skills and learn new skills and the service employed occupational therapists to lead on this aspect of the service.
There was a complaints procedure available which enabled people to raise any concerns or complaints about the care or support they received. The service had received many compliments from relatives and professionals about the quality of the care provided at the service.
The service worked in partnership with other organisations and healthcare professionals to improve people's outcomes.
The acting manager provided staff with leadership and was described as being very approachable. A range of audits and checks were undertaken to help monitor the quality of the service and new measures were due to be implemented. The management team were dedicated to ensuring they provided a high-quality service which put people at the forefront of any changes.
Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 11 November 2016)
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on their previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk