The Acorns

Updated 25 February 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Acorns 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. The Acorns 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 the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about 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

We spoke with 2 people who were using the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 5 staff members including the Registered Manager, Operations Manager, and 3 support workers. We contacted 4 relatives to seek their feedback on the care and support provided to their loved ones. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality assurance and policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 25 February 2023

About the service

The Acorns is registered to accommodate up to four people in an all-female service. The service provides support to people living with learning disabilities or other complex needs who need support with personal care. At the time of our inspection there were four people living at the service, which is set in a modern detached house in a residential area of Crawley.

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.

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

Right Support

Staff supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence be independent and they had control over their own lives. Staff focused on people’s strengths and preferences and promoted what they could do, focusing on what they enjoyed. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. 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 service supported this practice.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse. Staff knew how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks. Staff knew the best way to communicate with people. Usually communication was either verbal or through observing people’s reactions to suggestions or actions. We spent time observing interactions between people and staff and these were caring and supportive

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained management and staff could meet their needs and wishes. The provider sought advice from professionals and specialists to help support people and to meet their health and social care needs. Staff responded to people’s daily needs and to their wishes to be involved in activities away from the service. People were supported to spend time with their families and loved ones. People were supported to have access to the local community and to follow their interests.

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 (published 3 November 2017).

Why we inspected

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

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 inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained the same based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Follow up

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