Purple Flower Care

About the service

Purple Flower Care is a supported living service providing the regulated activity of personal care. The service provides support to people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder and people with mental health diagnoses. At the time of our inspection there was one person using the service.

Not everyone who used the 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.

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

Right Support

Although we found no evidence the person had been harmed, we saw some risks had not been effectively shared with the staff team. We found some risks had not been fully assessed to mitigate against avoidable harm. We found the person was subject to some restrictions which had not been subject to best interests’ decisions. Staff had not fully consulted significant people in the person’s life to ensure they were following least restrictive practices. A mental capacity assessment had not been completed to determine what decisions the person could and could not make for themselves. Some staff reported a good and supportive induction. One staff member told us they were only provided with one shift with a regular member of staff before supporting the person alone. Staff communicated with the person in a way that met their needs. Staff enabled people to access specialist health support in the community.

Right Care

The initial assessment and care plan for the person had not taken into consideration their sexuality or their cultural needs. Staff could not be sure they were fully supporting the person in the way they wished in these areas. The person’s care plan lacked some important information and updates. There was limited information about the person’s specific goals and how they were progressing with them. There was some evidence the person had been supported to try new experiences, although in the weeks prior to our inspection their activities were not very varied. Staff were kind and compassionate.

Right Culture

There was limited evidence the person and those who were important to them were involved in the development of the care plan. We found checks on the quality of the care provided were not always robust and had not identified many of the concerns we found.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 29 September 2021, and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about how risk was being managed by the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to how the person’s care needs were assessed and reviewed; lack of assessment and consideration of what decisions the person could and could not make for themselves and the use of restrictive practices; and the standard of checks and oversight of the service to ensure safe and effective care at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report. 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 meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.