Coleridge House

Updated 18 March 2020

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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Coleridge House 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. This service also included a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 a short period notice of the inspection because we needed to arrange to speak to people who used the domiciliary care service, their relatives and the staff who supported people.

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. 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the person living at the residential home and three people who used the domiciliary care service and two people’s relatives. We spoke with five members of staff, including the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We looked at the records held regarding four people’s care and support and we checked how medicines were managed. We also looked at three staff recruitment and training records and other documents to review how the provider monitored the support people received.

Updated 18 March 2020

About the service

Coleridge House provides a residential care home for up to two people in one adapted building. At the time of the inspection one person was living there.

The residential care home has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

Coleridge House also provides a domiciliary care service that supports people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the domiciliary care service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. Nine people were receiving personal care support at the time of the inspection.

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

Improvements had been made to the infection control measures in place at the residential home. We saw good standards of hygiene were in place and monitored to ensure these were maintained.

The systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of care had improved. We saw health and safety checks were regularly completed to ensure risks to people’s safety were minimised. The systems in place to monitor the quality of the service were used effectively to enable the provider to drive improvement.

People were supported by staff that understood their responsibilities to safeguard them from abuse and report any concerns. Where people needed support to take their prescribed medicines, this was done in a safe way. Checks were undertaken before staff commenced employment, to protect people that used the service.

People were supported to do what they wanted to do, as enough trained staff were available to support them. People’s preferences and dietary needs were met. Healthcare services were accessible to people with staff support as needed, and people received coordinated support, to ensure their preferences and needs were met.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways; People were supported to take reasonable risks which enabled them with opportunities to lead a full life. People spent their day as they preferred and were supported to take part in social activities of their choice to enhance their well-being.

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 understood the support people needed to make decisions when they were unable to make specific decisions independently. Mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions were undertaken where people needed support to make specific decisions. This demonstrated that people’s rights were upheld, and they were supported in the least restrictive way possible.

People and their representatives were encouraged to give their views about the service. This included raising any concerns they had. People and their representatives were involved in their care to enable them to receive support in their preferred way.

Staff felt supported by the management team and their performance was monitored to ensure any development and training needs were met.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update). The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 1 February 2019) and there were two breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.