Community Places-Clifton Drive

Updated 10 June 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors 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

Community Places – Clifton Drive 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. Community Places – Clifton Drive 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 spoke with 5 people who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 8 members of staff including the registered manager, team leader, senior support workers, and support workers. We looked at 2 care plans and associated risk assessments, medicines records, training records and audits.

Updated 10 June 2023

About the service

Community Places - Clifton Drive is a care home providing personal care to up to 16 people. The service provides support to people with mental health conditions and some people also had a learning disability. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people using the service.

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.

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

Right Support: Model of Care and setting that maximises people's choice, control and independence

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 were trained in safeguarding to keep their knowledge of their responsibilities up to date. The registered manager reported any allegations to the local authority safeguarding team and reviewed safeguarding investigations, accidents and incidents and feedback on the service to improve. Health and safety checks were carried out of the premises and equipment to make sure they were safe. The premises were clean, tidy and hygienic and staff followed current infection control and hygiene practice to reduce the risk of infections.

Right Care: Care is person-centred and promotes people's dignity, privacy and human rights

People received the right support in relation to risks, such as those relating to mental health conditions and learning disabilities. There were enough staff to support people safely and staff knew people well. The provider checked staff were suitable to work with people through recruitment checks. Staff received training in infection control practices. We made a recommendation about medicines practices.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives

The service was managed well and the registered manager was experienced and understood their role, as did all staff we spoke with. The registered manager oversaw the service with regular checks and reviews to ensure people received good quality care. We made a recommendation about strengthening medicines audits. Communication with people, relatives and staff took place and feedback was used as part of improving the service. Staff felt well supported. Care was provided in a person-centred way. The provider worked with local health and social care services to ensure people received the care they needed.

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 25 December 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management and people’s care needs. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Community Places-Clifton Drive on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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