Dove House

Updated 2 November 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and one medicines inspector.

Service and service type

Dove House 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. Dove House 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 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.

What we did before the inspection

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 reviewed notifications we had received from the service since the last inspection and contacted commissioners. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who could speak with us about their experience of the care provided. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We also spoke with three staff, the registered manager and a health care professional. We reviewed medicine administration records and medicine related care plans for nine people living at the home. We reviewed medicines management policies and procedures in place at the home.

Following the site visit we spoke with eight people's relatives and a commissioner of the service for people. We reviewed records which included three people’s risk assessments, staff training, quality assurance, staff recruitment records, staff rotas and service maintenance records.

Updated 2 November 2022

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

The home is a two storey building, with a single storey extension and a patio and garden. People have their own bedrooms, some of which have an ensuite and people share the communal areas of the home, including an art room and a multi-sensory room. The home has recently been extensively refurbished. The service is registered to support nine people with a learning disability or autistic people.

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

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 safeguarded people from the risk of abuse. They also identified, assessed and managed potential risks. There were sufficient staff deployed and staff were recruited safely. Medicines were managed safely at the home. Processes were in place to protect people from the risk of acquiring an infection. Processes were in place to ensure any incidents were reviewed and any learning from incidents was applied.

Right Care: People's relatives told us the care provided was person-centred and staff knew people well. A person told us, “Yes its good here,” and a relative said staff were ”very caring.“ We observed staff treated people with kindness and compassion, however our judgement on this aspect of the 'Right support, right care, right culture' guidance is limited as this was a focused inspection that considered the areas of safe and well-led only.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Relatives feedback included, “Since [name of registered manager] took over it has been really good, “ and, “They do a fantastic job.” The registered manager promoted a positive culture. People were supported to be involved in decisions and their relatives were consulted. Processes were in place to monitor the quality of the service and to identify areas for improvement. Staff worked with other agencies and professionals to support people’s care.

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 29 January 2020) and there was a breach of regulation. 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 improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation.

Why we inspected

At the last inspection we found the provider was in breach of regulation. This inspection was completed to review actions the provider told us they would take to comply with the regulation. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe 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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dove House 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.