Ashgate House

Updated 30 November 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 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Ashgate 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. Ashgate 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with 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 4 people and observed how staff interacted with people. We spoke with 5 staff, the registered and deputy managers, the regional manager, a team leader and a care worker. We reviewed the care records for 4 people and multiple medicines records. We examined recruitment records of 6 staff. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including a sample of policies and procedures.

Updated 30 November 2023

About the service

Ashgate House is a residential care home providing personal care to 9 at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 10 people.

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

We found that improvements could be made to the administration and recording of medicines.

Right Support: People lived in an ordinary residential home in a residential street. They were supported by a staff team that understood their needs.

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 were protected from the risk of abuse. Risk assessments had been carried out to identify the risks people faced. These included information about how to mitigate those risks. There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs and the provider had robust staff recruitment practices in place. Infection control and prevention systems were in place. Accidents and incidents were reviewed to see if any lessons could be learnt from them.

Right Culture: People were supported with care that was person-centred. Quality assurance and monitoring systems were in place to help drive improvements at the service. Relatives and staff told us there was an open and positive culture at the service. The provider was aware of their legal obligations and worked with other agencies to develop best practice and share knowledge.

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 26 June 2018).

Why we inspected

We had not inspected this service for over 5 years and we needed to check that they were still providing good quality and safe care.

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the safe recording and administration of medicines.

Follow up

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