Archived: Ashington Gardens

Updated 17 January 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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

Ashington Gardens 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. Ashington Gardens 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. Inspection activity started on 17 November 2022 and ended on 28 November 2022. We visited the location’s service on 17 November 2022.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service. We considered the information which had been shared with us since the last inspection by the provider, the local authority and other agencies and health and social care professionals. This information helps support our inspections. We received email feedback from one health care professional about their recent knowledge of the care being provided at 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with and observed the support of four people who used the service. We spoke with 13 members of staff. This included 6 support staff and senior support staff, the deputy manager, the registered manager, the provider’s head of services, the provider’s internal head of nursing support and 3 members of the human resources and learning and development team. We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 people’s care and medication records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with and received email feedback from 5 relatives of people using the service.

Updated 17 January 2023

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.

About the service

Ashington Gardens is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to four people. The service can support up to six people. The service was a detached bungalow with a garden, near to the town. People had their own bedrooms and bathrooms. There were shared eating and living areas.

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

Right Support:

Risks to people were not always assessed, monitored and managed safely. Systems in place did not always protect people from abuse and improper treatment. Staff did not always have the right support to make sure they were confident and had the right skills and experience to meet people’s needs safely and effectively. People’s medicine support was not being managed safely. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. The service was clean and hygienic. There were safe recruitment practices. 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 did support this practice.

Right Care:

People’s relatives gave us mixed feedback about how involved and engaged they were with planning people’s support or developing the service, to help people achieve good outcomes. People had not always been supported to assess or plan their care in personalised ways, which had affected their health and well-being. People had support to take part in activities they enjoyed at home and in the wider community. People communicated with people in the way they preferred and treated them with dignity and respect.

Right Culture:

Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care. Internal quality assurance systems and processes to maintain and develop the safety and quality of care were not always operating effectively. Staff and relatives said there had been a poor culture, with a lack of open communication and staff not always working well together having a negative impact on the delivery of good care. People told us they were happy living at the service. People’s and staff members equality and diversity and human rights were promoted and respected.

The provider was aware of the need for improvements and was committed to providing the necessary resources to make this happen as quickly as possible

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 April 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by whistleblowing concerns raised about people’s safety.

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.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care, risk management, abuse, governance and staffing at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will ask the provider to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.