Hellesdon Bungalows

Updated 6 December 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

This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Hellesdon Bungalows 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. Hellesdon Bungalows 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 no registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority quality monitoring team. 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 spoke with 4 people who used the service and observed staff providing others, who were not able or wanting to speak with us, with care and support. We also spoke with 3 care staff, the manager, training manager, regional manager and provider. We reviewed 2 medication administration records, 2 staff recruitment records and other records relating to the safety and quality of the business.

Updated 6 December 2023

About the service

Hellesdon Bungalows is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 8 people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 7 people using the service. Hellesdon Bungalows is a purpose built bungalow with accommodation on one level with some communal areas.

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.

Right Support: People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice. Although records and staff practice promoted people’s independence with routine tasks, improvements were needed to ensure people’s rights were fully protected.

Right Care: Staff received training, although some further training was needed in some areas. People’s healthcare needs were mostly well managed and staff administered medicines safely. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs.

Right Culture: Staff provided care and support in a person centred way. Relationships between staff and people who used the service were good and people told us they felt comfortable with the staff. People who used the service accessed the local community and were able to follow their own interests and hobbies and maintain relationships

The provider had recognised the staff team and manager required ongoing training and development to help drive the service forward to make the improvements needed. Despite this, some aspects of the service required improvement and better oversight. Audits and systems designed to monitor the culture and performance of the service were not robust. This was the second inspection in a row identifying similar concerns in some areas and repeated breaches of the same regulations. This meant we did not have confidence in the provider to improve.

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 11 August 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, although we found some improvements, the provider remained in breach of regulations. The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last 2 consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 18 May and 6 June 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, safeguarding, governance and staffing.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements. 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 remains Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hellesdon Bungalows on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.