Rowan Court

Updated 29 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors, one of whom specialised in medicines and an Expert by Experience who carried out observations and spoke with relatives to gain their feedback about the service. 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

Rowan Court 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.

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. Inspection activity started on 20 April 2023 and ended on 2 May 2023. We visited the service on 20 and 25 April 2023.

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 7 staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and care staff. We spoke with 1 person using a computer system and 4 relatives about their views of the care provided. We reviewed the care records for 4 people, numerous medicines records, 4 staff recruitment and supervision files, records related to governance systems and processes and other documentation relevant to the running of the service.

Updated 29 June 2023

About the service

Rowan Court is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 15 people with a learning disability, physical disability or sensory impairment and younger adults. At the time of the inspection 15 people lived at the service. The accommodation is provided in one adapted building with bedrooms across three floors.

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.

Right Support

There were enough staff employed to ensure people’s needs were being met daily and most training by staff had been completed. However, we could not find evidence staff had been trained in some areas. People received medicines safely and were given their medicines as prescribed and supported to have regular reviews.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Some people living in the home lacked capacity to make decisions. We found not all capacity assessments or best interest decisions had been completed to ensure people were supported in the least restrictive way. possible.

Right Care

Risks assessments were not always accurate or being followed by staff to ensure safe practice. Care records were not always accurate or in place. People were supported to eat and drink enough and had a varied diet offered to them. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Culture

The quality monitoring and auditing systems in place were not always effective. We found issues on inspection which had not been identified in the audits and actions plans were not robust. The registered manager was working with relatives and staff to improve communication and to gather their feedback. The management team and staff shared a commitment to continuously learn and worked in partnership with other professionals.

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 26 February 2020). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last four consecutive inspections.

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 the provider remained in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 20 and 25 April 2023.

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

The overall rating for the service has remained requires improvement. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective 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 Rowan Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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.