Honeybourne Gate

Updated 28 July 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 20 and 21 June 2018 and was announced. We gave the acting general manager 24 hours’ notice of our inspection. We did this because the acting general manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. We also reviewed the notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law and took into account the service’s inspection history.

We spoke with four people who were using the service. We also spoke two staff, a duty manager, the acting general manager and one representatives of the provider. After the inspection we also spoke to an independent health and social care consultant who had been commissioned by the provider. We reviewed three people's care files, staff training and recruitment records and records relating to the general management of the service.

Updated 28 July 2018

The inspection of Honeybourne Gate took place on 20 and 21 June 2018 and was announced. This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

We only inspected the records, policies and procedures relating to those people who received support with the regulated activity of personal care.

At the last inspection of Honeybourne Gate in July 2017 we rated the service ‘Requires Improvement’ overall. We found two breaches of the regulations. This was because adequate records in relation to people employed and the monitoring of the service had not been kept. The provider had not ensured staff were fit and proper to carry out the regulated activity of personal care.

After the inspection provider sent us an action plan of the actions they would take to meet these legal requirements. At this inspection we followed up on their actions and found that improvements had been made and the service now met the legal requirements.

A registered manager was not in place as required by their conditions of registration. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. However, an acting general manager had been appointed and was managing the service until the newly appointed manager came in to post.

The acting general manager followed safe recruitment practices when recruiting new staff. The provider and deputy managers had a good insight into the quality of care being delivered and monitored the service personally. The provider had sought support from an independent consultant to assist them in monitoring of the service and we saw this had resulted in improvements in how the service was monitored and managed.

People were provided with care and support according to their needs and risks. People’s risks had been identified and were being managed by staff who knew them well. People’s care plans provided staff with the information they needed to support people. Robust and safe systems were in place if people required support with their medicines.

Staff understood how they should apply the Mental Capacity Act 2005 if they were required to support people who lacked mental capacity to make decisions about their care and support. Staff worked closely with health care professionals and people’s families. Relevant health and social care professionals were involved with people’s care when their needs had changed.

People and their relatives were positive about the caring nature and told us they were supported by staff who were kind and compassionate. They were confident that any concerns would be dealt with promptly.

Staff felt trained and supported to carry out their role. The deputy managers were involved in the delivery and management of people’s personal care, which allowed them to monitor the well-being of people and management of staff. Any concerns or accidents were reported and acted on to ensure people received care which was safe and responsive to their needs. Staff were trained in safeguarding people and protecting them from harm.