Gloucester House

Updated 13 January 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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Gloucester House is a ‘care home’ without nursing care. 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. 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 18 May 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, home manager, nominated individual, operations manager, senior support worker and 2 support workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and other records regarding training and monitoring. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 13 January 2023

About the service

Gloucester House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 8 people with a learning disability and / or autism in one adapted building. At the time of the inspection 8 people were living at the service.

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

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Right support: Staff focused on people's strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful life. People were supported in a safe and clean environment that met their sensory and physical needs. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs. The service had enough staff, including for one-to-one support for people to take part in activities and visits how and when they wanted.

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 protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. People received care that supported their needs and aspirations, was focused on their quality of life, and followed best practice. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right culture: People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Staff provided people with personalised, proactive and co-ordinated support in line with their communication and support plans.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 21 November 2019).

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.

This report only covers our findings in relation to the safe and well-led Key Questions. 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 good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Gloucester House 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.