Winfrith House

Updated 17 June 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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Winfrith 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. Winfrith 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 has registered with the CQC 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

We gave a short notice period for inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we held about this service since it registered and contacted social care commissioners to provide feedback. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and completed an observation of staff engaging with the person in an activity. We contacted 3 staff members and sought feedback from health and social care professionals. We contacted 1 relative to gain feedback about the experience of the care their loved one received.

We reviewed a range of records related to the service people received. This included 1 person’s care plan and medicines administration records, staff training records, 3 staff recruitment records and various audits in place to oversee and monitor the service.

Updated 17 June 2023

About the service

Winfrith House is a residential care home which specialises in providing care and support to adults and younger adults with a learning disability and or autistic people. The service can accommodate up to 2 people, and at the time of our inspection there was 1 person living at the service. The care home is a domestic style 3-bedroom property and is situated in a residential area in Southampton.

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

We found improvements were required to ensure the provider consistently identified, assessed, and managed all risks to people. Staff we spoke with knew how to keep people safe and there were appropriate levels of staff in place.

People were not consistently supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. We were not assured staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

We received feedback that staff were kind and caring, however we observed staff engagement with people using meaningful communication and in line with their care plan needed to be improved. Our judgements were supported by professional feedback that staff were not always observed to be proactive in engagement, and the service did not take opportunities to maximise people’s potential.

Staff supported community access and engagement in leisure activities outside of the service. Staff knew how to support people during periods of crisis and care plans included personalised information on their likes, dislikes, and preferences.

The service was not always well-led. We found governance systems were not effective or robust to ensure the provider consistently met their requirements.

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: We received professional feedback that the model of care and setting did not always maximise people’s choice, control, and independence.

Right Care: Staff were kind and caring, however improvements were required to ensure they consistently engaged with people using a person-centred approach.

Right Culture: Although the service promoted the intention of supporting people to have goals and aspirations, there wasn’t always clear evidence of how this would be achieved.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 12 July 2022, and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to consent and adhering to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, when decisions are made in people’s best interest, and related to good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

We have recommended the provider continues to review and embed their processes around their requirement to notify CQC of incidents to ensure relevant information is shared .

Follow up

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