Ashking House

Updated 20 July 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 1 inspector and 1 Expert by Experience. 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

Ashking House is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or

personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Ashking 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 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

We gave a short period of notice of the inspection because some of the people using it could not consent to a home visit from an inspector. This meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this.

Inspection activity started on 05 July 2023 and ended on 10 July 2023. We visited the location home on 05 July 2023.

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 sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included their registration report and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, incidents and accidents were reviewed. We reviewed 3 medicine administration records. We spoke with 4 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and 2 support workers.

We were able to get limited views from people only due to their needs. 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 continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at care records, staff training records and policies and procedures. We spoke with 6 relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided.

Updated 20 July 2023

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.

About the service

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

Ashking House provides accommodation and personal care for up to 7 people in 1 2-storey building. At the time of our inspection there were 7 people living at the home, all of whom had a learning disabilities and autism.

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

Right Support:

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the home supported this practice. The model of care at Ashking House maximised people's choice, control and independence. Staff were committed to supporting people in line with their preferences and supported people to receive their medicines safely and as prescribed.

People were supported to access healthcare services to promote their wellbeing and help them to live healthy lives. Staff managed risks to minimise restrictions, focusing on what people could do for themselves.

The home had effective infection, prevention and control measures to keep people safe, including good arrangements for keeping the premises clean and hygienic.

Right Care:

Staff delivered care in line with information in people's care plans and recognised models of care for people with a learning disability or autistic people. This ensured people were receiving care tailored to them which promoted a good quality of life.

Staff understood people's individual communication styles they had developed a good rapport with them. People were supported to develop and maintain relationships, follow interests and take part in activities that were socially and culturally relevant to them.

People were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The registered manager worked well with other agencies to safeguard people. Investigations into incidents had been used as an opportunity to learn lessons, change practice, and drive improvement. Staff recruitment, induction and training processes promoted safety, including those for agency staff. People were supported by staff who had received a wide range of relevant and good quality training to meet their needs.

Right Culture:

There was a positive culture at the home and people benefited from being supported by happy staff and this was reflected in the atmosphere at the home. Staff turnover was very low. People received consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff told us they enjoyed their job and making a positive difference to someone's life.

The home had effective governance arrangements to assess the quality and safety of the service. These were used to identify and drive improvement. Systems were in place to apologise to people, and those important to them, when things went wrong.

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 Ashking House was good (published 02 July 2018).

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

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the home was previously inspected.

This was a focused inspection and the report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led. 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.

Follow up

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