Scottlyn

Updated 15 October 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave a short notice period that the inspection would be taking place. This ensured we were able to work alongside the registered manager to identify any potential risks associated with Covid19 and put measures in place to manage them.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information about concerns and incidents the provider must notify us about. We sought feedback from the local authority professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

The provider was not asked to submit a provider information return prior to our inspection. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make or have made since the last inspection. We accounted for this when we inspected the service and made the judgements identified in this report.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection.

We spoke with three service users. We spoke with three members of staff including the manager and two care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records, risk assessments and medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We reviewed a variety of records related to the management and quality assurance of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We emailed six staff to seek their views on how care is provided. Three staff responded to the email correspondence. We spoke with three relatives to seek their views.

Updated 15 October 2020

About the service

Scottlyn is a residential care home which provides accommodation and support for people with a learning disability or autism. The service provides personal care and support to up to eight people. At the time of the inspection there were seven people living at the service.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin

Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

At the last inspection of the service we found the provider had failed to ensure robust systems were in place to effectively monitor the quality and safety of the service and mitigate the associated risks. Since the last inspection the provider had improved the quality assurance systems, this led to effective measures being in place to monitor the quality of service being delivered. Sufficient improvement had been made at this inspection and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation 17.

Due to the circumstances surrounding Covid-19 at the time of inspection we were only able to speak with people using the service briefly. One person said they liked living at Scottlyn. They told us “I like to do the garden.” Relatives we spoke with after the inspection said they felt the registered manager and staff had worked hard to keep their loved ones safe during these unprecedented times. One relative told us “[Relative’s name] receives excellent care. They are all doing a good job of keeping all the residents safe.”

Relatives did not have any concerns regarding infection prevention and control practices and told us they found the home to be clean and tidy. Risks relating to infection control and prevention had been assessed and plans put in place to manage these.

Relatives told us they had been supported to maintain contact with their loved ones. They told us measures were in place to support them to be able to safely attend face to face visits. This included the use of personal protective equipment and them adhering to social distancing.

Relatives told us they were able to raise any concerns and share their views with management. We received feedback from health and social care professionals who worked alongside the service and all of them spoke positively about the partnership working with the management and staff.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence. The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support was focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The service was rated as requires improvement at the last inspection (published 18 February 2020).

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 11 December 2019. During the inspection we identified a breach of legal requirements. Following the inspection, the provider submitted an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and good governance.

We completed this focused inspection to make sure they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to two key domains, Safe and Well-led.

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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key domains not looked at during this inspection were used in calculating the overall rating for this inspection. The overall rating for the service therefore has improved to Good based on the findings at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.