Archived: Coolhaze

Updated 26 September 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

As part of this inspection we also looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted as part of our Thematic Review of infection control and prevention in care homes.

Prior to this inspection we received information of concern in relation to safe care and support. We shared this information with the local authority who commenced a safeguarding investigation which had not yet concluded at the time of writing this report.

Inspection team

One inspector undertook this inspection.

Service and service type

Coolhaze 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, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because Coolhaze is a service for people with autism, and we wished to provide notice to support people’s understanding of the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information from the local authority’s safeguarding and quality improvement teams, as well as health and social care professionals who work with the service. We also reviewed the information the service is obliged to provide us with, such as accidents where people sustained an injury. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

We had not requested the provider send us a provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We met with two people who used the service; speaking with one in detail about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two members of staff, registered manager, provider’s operational manager and quality assurance and improvement lead officer.

We reviewed a range of records. This included one person’s medication records, three staff recruitment files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We reviewed the care records for all three people and continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records and a number of policies and procedures. We spoke with a professional who had visited the service recently. We contacted all staff employed at the service to invite them to participate in the inspection: we received positive feedback from four staff.

Updated 26 September 2020

About the service

Coolhaze is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to three people. Coolhaze provides care for people with a learning disability and associated conditions such as autism. Accommodation is arranged over three floors with each person having their own self-contained flats. At the time of the inspection three people were living at the home.

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

Not everyone living at Coolhaze was able to share their views with us. One person told us they felt safe at the service and trusted the staff: they said the service was “really good”. Another person we met looked happy and relaxed in staff’s company.

We found improvements were required in how the safety and quality of the service is assessed, monitored and improved. Care records were not always fully accurate, and the safety checks and maintenance of the equipment and grounds was insufficient to ensure people and staff were safe. The provider’s quality assurance and governance systems had not been effectively implemented and improvements were made only after the commencement of the local authority’s safeguarding investigation.

We also found people were not always provided with care and support that was person-centred. We made a recommendation to improve how people are supported to develop their skills and engage in activities meaningful to them.

Medicines were being managed safely, after action had been taken following a medicine error.

We received positive feedback from four staff: all reported feeling well supported by the registered manager, and they said they enjoyed working at Coolhaze.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report published 16 July 2018)

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to people’s safety and well-being. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

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

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified a breach of regulation in relation to managing risks to people’s health, safety and welfare, as well as with the implementation of effective governance systems at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will request an action plan for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.