Gatwick House

Updated 25 August 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

One Inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Gatwick 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. Gatwick 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 is 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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We considered the feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in March 2023 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 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 spoke with 3 people who lived at Gatwick House. We spoke with 7 people’s relatives and a professional about their experience of the care and support provided by the service.

We spoke with 12 staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, administrator, 2 senior support workers, 4 support workers and 3 representatives of the provider. We also spoke with a consultant who had been contracted by the provider to provide support to Gatwick House.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 25 August 2023

About the service

Gatwick House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided both were looked at during this inspection.

Gatwick House accommodates 14 people in 1 shared house for 3 people and has 11 individual units known as bungalows, each of which have separate entrances and adapted facilities. At the time of our inspection visit there were 11 people using the service.

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.

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

Based on our review of safe and well-led the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

People were supported to have choice about their living environment and were being encouraged to personalise their accommodation. Refurbishment was being carried out to improve Gatwick House, this included creating bespoke accommodation for people. People, their relatives and professionals were being involved in these decisions.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. People were receiving their medicines as prescribed; however the provider did not always have effective systems to manage people’s prescribed medicines.

Right Care

People's care, treatment and support plans had been updated and reviewed since our last inspection. Each person had a detailed positive behaviour support plan.

Staff understood people’s needs and the support they required and knew how to support people when they were anxious.

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. Staff understood and responded to their individual needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right culture

The provider did not always operate effective systems to monitor the quality of the service they provide, including in relation to fire safety, legionella’s and general maintenance.

The registered manager and representative of the provider had a clear plan of improvement for Gatwick House. They had arranged for support from an external consultant to help drive a positive and empowering culture.

People’s relatives and staff spoke positively about changes at Gatwick House and discussed the positive impact these changes had on people who lived at Gatwick House.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 11 November 2022). At this inspection the rating has remained the same.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 4 October 2022. 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 people’s care records and their good governance systems.

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.

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.

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, good governance and notification of other incidents at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Gatwick House 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 with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.