Background to this inspection
Updated
18 January 2024
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 team consisted of 1 inspector
Service and service type
The Cottage 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 Cottage 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
The inspection was unannounced .
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.
During the inspection
Not all of the people who lived at The Cottage were able to fully express their views and experiences, so we observed the care and support they received. We also spoke with 3 family members, the registered manager and the deputy manager and 4 support workers. We reviewed 2 people's care records and multiple medication records. We also reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including staff recruitment records policies and procedures.
Updated
18 January 2024
About the service
The Cottage is a residential care home providing personal care for a maximum of 10 people in one purpose-built house. The service provides support for people who live with autism and a learning disability. There were 9 people living at The Cottage at the time of the inspection.
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 assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
People’s experience of the service and what we found:
Right culture:
Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the support and services provided for people. However, the provider had not resolved identified shortfalls within the environment in a timely manner.
Support was person-centred and promoted people's individuality, well-being and dignity.
There was a culture of openness, inclusivity and partnership working which enabled people to live meaningful lifestyles.
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 service supported this practice.
Risks to people’s health, safety and welfare were assessed and mitigated. Lessons were learned from accidents and incidents and used to improve the support people received.
Staff supported people with their medicines in a safe way.
Right care:
People were protected from abuse and poor care by staff who understood how to recognise and report incidents of this nature.
There were enough safely recruited and well-trained staff available to meet people's needs.
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 23 August 2023).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘All inspection reports and timeline’ link for The Cottage on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We have identified a breach in relation to the governance at this service.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow Up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.