Archived: Autism Hampshire - 102a Brockhurst Road

Updated 21 September 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

The inspection was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

Autism Hampshire-102a Brockhurst Road 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. Autism Hampshire-102a Brockhurst Road 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post, but a new manager had recently commenced working in the service and was applying to register, they are referred to as the manager throughout this report.

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, including notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We received feedback from the local authority and external 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.

During the inspection

People living in the service had no or limited verbal communication. Therefore, we carried out observations of people's experiences throughout the inspection and used a communication tool to help capture one person’s views. We spoke with eight members of staff including care staff, the manager, the deputy manager, the area manager and the provider’s operations manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and medicines records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and induction. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including accident and incident records and policies and procedures were reviewed. We sought feedback from people’s relatives but did not receive any responses.

Updated 21 September 2022

About the service

Autism Hampshire-102a Brockhurst Road is a residential care home providing personal care to four people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to four people.

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

Risks associated with people's care were not always fully assessed and care plans lacked detail. This included management of behaviours and nutritional risks that could impact on people's health. Improvements had been made, but further work was needed to improve information for staff to keep people safe.

People were supported by a staff team that were committed to getting their support right. We saw improvements in the amount of staff supporting people and they understood people’s needs and how to meet them safely. However, recruitment had been challenging for the provider and they were continuing work to build a strong supportive staff team.

Staff had received appropriate training and support to enable them to meet people’s needs. They received supervision to help develop their skills and support them in their role, although this had not always been consistent.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Arrangements were in place for obtaining, recording, administering and disposing of prescribed medicines, but improvements were needed to ensure records were signed for as required.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff and the management team needed to further consider how to do so in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service were being improved to support this practice. We have made a recommendation about this in the report.

Recruitment processes were safe to ensure only suitable staff were employed. Staff knew how to keep people safe from harm. The provider had a policy and procedure for safeguarding adults and the manager and staff understood the signs to look for.

The environment had been improved since out last inspection and this meant it was more suited to people’s needs.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

Right support: The provider was improving their model of care and the environment to maximise people's choice, control and independence.

Right care: People's care was being improved so that it could better recognise people’s individual needs and choices. People were not yet fully involved in planning their care. We saw examples of how people's care had improved to promote their dignity, privacy and human rights.

Right culture: We saw improvements since the last inspection and the vision, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and care staff were starting to support people to be confident and empowered in living in the community.

The manager and staff were proactively working with external professionals to ensure people received effective and safe care.

There was a clearly defined management structure and regular oversight and input from the provider. Staff morale was improving, and they were positive about the management of the service and told us the manager was supportive and approachable.

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 inadequate. (published 21 January 2022) and there were breaches 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 regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 20 January 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures. This service has been rated inadequate or requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focussed inspection of this service on 1 December 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, risk management, safeguarding, staffing, the environment, person centred care, consent and governance.

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, Effective and Well led which contain those requirements.

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 comprehensive inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Autism Hampshire–102a Brockhurst Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about further improving records for mental capacity assessments, best interest decisions and restrictive practice.

Follow up

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