Esther Care Home

Updated 5 April 2022

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 Care Act 2014.

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Esther Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave notice of the inspection because the service had recently experienced an outbreak of COVID-19 and we wanted to be sure staff had the time to speak with us.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included statutory notifications, which contain information providers are required to send us about significant incidents that take place within services. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

During our inspection we observed interactions between people and staff to help us understand their experiences of receiving care and support at the service. We spoke with two people, the provider and three staff members. We looked at records which included care records for three people, two staff files, medicines records and other records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 5 April 2022

About the service

Esther Care Home is a residential and respite service that provides personal care and accommodation for adults with learning disabilities. At the time of inspection, the provider had created an additional room creating capacity for 12 people. However, the additional room was not being used and the service remained registered for a maximum of 11 people. When we inspected there were 11 people using the service.

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

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. The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. This was larger than current best practice guidance. However, the building fitted into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff did not wear anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

Our inspection focused on the two questions of safe and well led. We did not look at the key questions of effective, caring and responsive. We considered the conditions in place on the day of our inspection with 11 people using the service and this report reflects our findings.

Right Support

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. For example, staff were aware of people’s healthcare needs and associated risks so they supported people to take part in activities in a safe way.

The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. Staff supported people with their medicines to achieve the best possible health outcome.

Right Care

Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people’s cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Right Culture

Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.