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 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.
Fieldview is registered to provide accommodation for up to seven people in the care home and also provided a personal care service (the community service) to seven people who lived in a shared house and one other person who lived in their own home in the local vicinity. For the purposes of this report we have referred to the personal care service as the community service and used Fieldview when referring to the care home. Both services care for people who have mental health issues.
The inspection was unannounced to the care home service but the service was given notice that the personal care service would be inspected on the second day of our inspection.
There were seven people in residence in the care home when we visited. Fieldview is a large detached property within walking distance of Stonehouse, Gloucestershire and the accommodation is spread over three floors. The staff team in the care home were led by a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.
Personal care services were provided to eight people, seven who lived in a shared house and one other person who lived in their own home. A support service is provided to other people but this does not fall within the remit of personal care services. Due to a staff restructuring process within Stroud Care Services there were now two managers, each responsible for one of the services. The manager who was running the service was not yet registered. However, they had submitted their application to the Care Quality Commission for registration and were waiting for this to be completed.
Improvements need to be made with risk assessment processes in both services. This is to ensure people, and the staff who support them, were kept safe and protected from harm. These improvements would also ensure the service provided to each person was responsive to their specific needs. Behavioural management plans were not in place for one person who lived in Fieldview. That person may not be supported to work through their behaviours with a consistent approach. Where people were subject to a community treatment orders in the care home, the explicit terms of those orders were not detailed in their care plans.
However people from both services told us they felt safe, that the staff helped them to keep safe and they did not have anything to worry about.
People told us the staff were always available to help them and they supported them in the way they wanted. People were supported to be part of the local community and to be as independent as possible.
Both staff teams had the appropriate skills and knowledge to support the people they were looking after, were well trained and supported by the managers. Regular meetings were held with people and with the staff team.
People in Fieldview were provided with the types of food and drink they liked and they said they had enough to eat and drink. Healthy food options were encouraged and body weights were monitored to ensure people had enough to eat and drink. People helped with the preparation and cooking of meals if they were able.
People were supported to access the healthcare services that they needed and staff either supported them to attend the surgery or arranged for professionals to visit in the home.
The staff were kind and caring and had a good approach when interacting with people. People were at ease with the staff and were supporting them to do the activities they wanted to do. People were provided with information about how they could raise a complaint and were reminded during meetings and care plan reviews.
People were provided with care and support that met their individual needs and took account of their individual choices and preferences. The daily notes recorded by the staff did not always reflect how the support needs referred to in their care plans were met, or not met.
Both services were led by a manager who was supported by the operations manager. They each managed a staff team and had team leaders in post. All staff said they were well supported by the management teams and that they were approachable. Staff meetings and manager meetings were scheduled regularly and staff were encouraged to express their views. Meetings were held with people to ensure that they could express their views and opinions about the service they received.
The managers assessed and monitored the quality of care and planned to improve further by gathering feedback from families and health and social care professionals, about their views of the service.
We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.