Dalvington/The Oaks

Updated 25 January 2024

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 team consisted of 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Dalvington and the Oaks 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. Dalvington and The Oaks 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

The inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 6 December 2023 and ended on 11 December 2023. We visited the location's service on 6 and 11 December 2023.

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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We observed the care provided and how staff interacted with people who lived at the service. We spoke with 4 people and 3 relatives of people using the service about their experience of care. We spoke with 7 staff including the registered manager and home manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 6 people's care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the governance of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We looked at 3 staff files relating to recruitment.

We gathered and reviewed feedback from professionals involved with the service. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found following the inspection.

Updated 25 January 2024

About the service

Dalvington/ The Oaks is a care home that provides accommodation with support for up to 15 people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of inspection there were 14 people using the service.

The home had been developed and designed before the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support had been published. This guidance aims to ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence.

People’s experience of the 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 assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

Risks were assessed and kept up to date to ensure people could be supported safely and participate in activities that they enjoyed.

People and their relatives told us people were supported safely. 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. People were able to receive visitors without restrictions in line with best practice guidance.

Right Care

People were protected and safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm by staff that understood their responsibilities to keep people safe. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs.

Right Culture

The culture in the service was open and positive, with systems in place to promote and provide person centred care. People and their relatives together with staff were involved in the running of the service and the provider worked in partnership with others to achieve good outcomes for people. The quality of care was monitored and lessons were learned when things had gone wrong.

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 (27 October 2020).

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 improvement had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about restrictive practices. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. we found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well led sections of this report.

Follow Up

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