202 Weston Road

Updated 4 April 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 2 Inspectors.

Service and service type

202 Western Road 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. 202 Western Road 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 not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals 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 relatives about their experiences of the care people received. We spoke with 5 members of staff including support workers and the area manager. We also spoke with a registered manager employed by the provider, who is providing additional support at the service. We observed staff interactions with people.

We also spoke with professionals from the local authority, who were supporting the service at the time of our inspection.

We reviewed a range of records, this included 2 people's care records and multiple medicines and daily care records. We reviewed 2 staff files in relation to recruitment processes and training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, environmental checks and audits were also reviewed.

Updated 4 April 2024

About the service

202 Western Road is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 4 people. The service provides support to people who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic. At the time of our inspection there were 4 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and/or who are autistic.

Right Support

The provider did not always assess risks or take action to mitigate identified risks to ensure people were safe. People were not always safeguarded from abuse or avoidable harm. People were not always supported to receive their medicines in a safe way. The service did not always make sure staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and support.

The provider was not always working in line with the Mental Capacity Act.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support 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 not always protected from the risk of infection as staff were not consistently following safe infection prevention and control practices. People’s care and support was not always delivered in line with current standards and people did not always achieve effective outcomes. The provider did not always ensure the service worked effectively to deliver care, support and treatment. People were not always supported to live healthier lives. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet.

Right Culture

The provider did not always learn lessons when things had gone wrong. People’s individual needs were not always met by the adaption, design and decoration of the premises. The provider did not have an effective management structure. The provider did not always monitor the quality of care provided in order to drive improvements or create a learning culture at the service, so people’s care was not improved. The provider did not fully understand or act on their responsibilities under the duty of candour. People and staff were not always involved in the running of the service and their protected characteristics were not always well understood.

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 11 October 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about people’s safety, staff training and oversight. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective, 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 202 Western Road on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, the premises and equipment, need for consent, person-centred care and good governance.

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.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.