Ivy Lodge

Updated 1 February 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and 1 assistant inspector.

Service and service type

Ivy Lodge 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. Ivy Lodge 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 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 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 12 January 2023 and ended on 18 January 2023. We visited the location’s service on 12 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it registered with CQC. 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.

We contacted social care commissioners who help arrange and monitor the care of people living at Ivy Lodge. We also contacted Healthwatch Barnsley. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who used the service and observed communal areas. We spoke with 7 members of staff, including a care director, the registered manager, the deputy manager and 4 care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service and quality monitoring systems.

We spoke with 4 relatives and 3 health and social care professional about their experience of the service.

Updated 1 February 2023

About the service

Ivy Lodge is a residential care home providing regulated activity personal care for up to 10 people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people using the service.

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.

The provider was able to demonstrate they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support:

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 supported people to achieve their aspirations and goals.

Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcomes. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Staff did everything they could to avoid restraining people. The service recorded when staff restrained people, and staff learned from those incidents and how they might be avoided or reduced.

People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. The service made sure people were fully involved in discussions about how they received support, including when they recruited staff.

Right Care:

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. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture:

The service had evaluated the culture and quality of the service provided to make sure staff placed peoples wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. This ensured risks of a closed culture were recognised so that people received the right support. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 12 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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 inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about a closed culture, staff training and management. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. 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 Ivy Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect