Archived: Cricklade Road

Updated 6 December 2016

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 inspection took place on 3 November 2016 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of one inspector and a pharmacist inspector.

Before the visit we reviewed previous inspection reports. We also reviewed the monthly audit plans the service had sent us after the last inspection in May 2016 to update the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on ensuring the regulations were being met. We reviewed notifications. Services tell us about important events relating to the care they provide using a notification which is a requirement of law. The methods that were used to inspect the service included observing people using the service and interviewing staff. We used pathway tracking which is capturing the experiences of a sample of people using the service.

During the inspection we spoke with five members of staff, and the person managing the service. We looked at three people’s care records and three people’s medicines records. We reviewed the staffing rotas for the past month and looked at three staff files.

We contacted the commissioners of the service to obtain their views.

Updated 6 December 2016

We undertook an unannounced inspection on 3 November 2016. Cricklade Road is a care home run by the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, also known as Rethink Mental Illness, where up to six people who are experiencing a mental health crisis can stay. The aim of the service is to help people move on to more independent accommodation by providing support that meets their changing needs. At the time of inspection there were three people living at the home.

At a comprehensive inspection in December 2015 the overall rating was Inadequate and the service was placed into special measures by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Four breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014 were identified. We found significant risks to people due to the management of medicines. We also found risks to people’s environment that meant people were not protected in the event of a fire. People and staff did not have relevant risk assessments in place to ensure their safety. People in the service did not receive care and support that was individualised to their needs. Following our previous inspections we had concerns with the general leadership and management of the home. A management team had been put in place to oversee the day to day running of the home until the appointment of a registered manager. Following the inspection, we received regular action plans which set out what actions were to be taken to bring the service up to standard.

We undertook another inspection on 4 May 2016 in line with our special measures guidance to see if improvements had been made. We could see that some action had been taken to improve people’s safety but further improvements were needed to ensure people were safe. For example, risk assessments had not been completed for people that self-medicated and not all actions had been completed to improve fire safety. Staff had not undergone lone working risk assessments and were not receiving regular supervision to support them. Complaints had not been processed in line with the complaints policy. Systems and processes in place to ensure the regulations were met had not identified the issues we found in the inspection and therefore were not effective in keeping people safe. There were continued breaches in Regulation 9, Regulation 12 and Regulation 17 with an overall rating of Inadequate. Therefore, the service remained in special measures meaning significant improvements were required, or further enforcement action could be taken. Following this inspection we asked the provider to submit monthly actions plans.

At this inspection on 3 November 2016, we found considerable improvements in the service. The environment had improved noticeably and health and safety audits meant any issues that may cause concern were picked up on swiftly and actioned. The management of medication had improved, although there were some areas to improve upon. We have made a recommendation about the management of some medicines.

Staff had received appropriate training to support them in their roles and staff told us they felt well supported.

We observed pleasant and friendly interactions between staff and people who used the service. The people with whom we spoke told us they were happy with the care they received

People had care plans in place which were person centred and provided relevant guidance for staff about how to care for and support people. These were reviewed at regular intervals and updated where necessary. We found that people were receiving support that was relevant to their circumstances and person centred to identify achievable goals to help them towards independent living. Activities had been discussed and were offered regularly to people in the service.

We found there were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and regular checks were undertaken in all aspects of running the home. Commissioners had reported improvements in the service.