Kimwick Care Home

About the service

Kimwick Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care and support to 4 adults at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 4 people.

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

Right Support:

The service was not sufficiently well maintained or homely for people living there. Improvements were needed to the décor, fixtures, furnishings and garden. A programme of improvements commenced immediately when this was brought to the provider's attention during the inspection.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. People were supported safely with their medicines. There were enough staff on shift to support people and meet their needs and preferences. Staff received an induction and ongoing training for their roles. People's nutritional needs were met. Staff worked together with relatives, health and social care professionals to ensure people received consistent, effective and timely 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.

Right Care

People were supported to follow their personal interests. Systems were in place to report and follow up accidents and incidents appropriately. Recruitment checks were completed to support the provider make safe recruitment decisions. Some gaps in employment histories were found which were rectified during the inspection. Risks were assessed and reviewed regularly. People living in the service had regular house and key worker meetings where a range of relevant topics were discussed.

Right Culture

The provider did not have a plan in place to ensure the service was properly maintained and suitably decorated. The registered manager had effective oversight of the quality and standards of the care and support people received. They were aware of their regulatory responsibilities. People's needs were assessed and reviewed regularly and as their needs changed. People's diverse needs were included in care planning processes. Feedback surveys were used but these were not anonymous and were not distributed to relatives to invite feedback about all aspects of service provision. Staff were supported through regular team meetings and one to one supervision.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 13 September 2019). A targeted inspection took place on 12 January 2022 which only looked at infection prevention and control during the COVID19 pandemic period. No rating was awarded at that time.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

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 COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Enforcement

We found 1 breach of regulations in relation to the environment. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

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.

We found the following examples of good practice.

Safe arrangements were in place for visitors to the service including relatives and friends, professionals and others. This included a booking system, rapid LFD testing, showing evidence of vaccination, temperature checks and sign in process.

People living in the service visited their families and attended activities as part of their daily routines. The risks associated to this were assessed and the registered manager improved the recording of this in people’s individual risk assessments during the inspection.

The layout of the service meant people could be supported to socially distance in the lounge and dining areas. Everyone living in the service had access to their own toilet and shower facilities which reduced the risk of infection spread.

Cleaning and disinfection of all areas of the service continued to take place to reduce the risk of cross contamination. These were recorded daily by staff. The registered manager made the recording of high touch point cleaning such as door handles and bannisters clearer during the inspection.

There was plenty of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, aprons and hand sanitiser available. Used PPE was disposed of safely in a separate bin.

A regular programme of testing for COVID-19 was in place for staff and people who lived in the service. This meant swift action could be taken if anyone received a positive test result.

There were no agency staff working in the service which meant fewer staff coming in and out of the building. This helped keep people safe.

The registered manager had oversight of infection prevention and control processes. Weekly audits were undertaken, as well as spot checks of staff to check hand hygiene and proper use of PPE.

Kimwick care home is a residential care home that can provide long and short-term residential care for up to four people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health conditions; at the time of inspection three people lived at the home.

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

People were supported by caring staff who knew them well. There were enough staff on shift to meet people’s individual needs. There were systems and process in place to protect people from abuse.

Staff were trained and supported to meet the needs of the people living at Kimwick care home. Staff received supervision and had regular team meeting to communicate any changes.

People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff had completed competency checks to ensure the correct procedure was followed.

People had risk assessments in place to support staff in understanding and keeping people safe. Risk assessments were completed with people and their views and outcomes were recorded.

People told us staff were kind and respectful. People had their needs assessed and a comprehensive care plan document that detailed peoples likes and dislikes, routines and choices was completed. People and their representatives were fully involved in all aspects of care planning.

Staff supported people to access healthcare services including doctors, dentist, occupational therapy and any other professional required. Staff supported people to lead healthy lives through healthy eating and exercise if required.

People’s communication needs were identified, and systems put into place to ensure their views could be sought and that staff had the training required to communicate effectively with them.

People were supported to maintain relationships and take part in social activities. People who wanted to were supported to gain employment or access education.

The registered manager had systems and processes in place in ensure person centred care was delivered, these included regular audits, spot checks on staff and meetings for people and staff.

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.

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 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

The last rating for this service was good (published 07 March 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

This was the first comprehensive inspection of Kimwick Care Home.

Kimwick Care Home is a residential care home for up to four people with learning disabilities. They service provides short, medium and long term care. Kimwick care home is situated in Colossus way, Bletchley Park and is two minutes from Bletchley train station with linking networks into London. At the time of our inspection there were two people using the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People felt safe. Staff had been provided with safeguarding training to enable them to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report them. There were risk management plans in place to protect and promote people’s safety. Staffing numbers were appropriate to keep people safe. There were safe recruitment practices in place and these were being followed to ensure staff employed were suitable for their role. People’s medicines were managed safely and in line with best practice guidelines.

Staff received regular training that provided them with the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs. They were well supported by the registered manager and had regular one to one supervision. Staff received support and training to perform their roles and responsibilities. They were provided with on-going training to update their skills and knowledge. Consent for care was sought by staff on a daily basis and had been recorded in people’s care plans. We found that, where people lacked capacity to make their own decisions, consent had been obtained in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. People were provided with a balanced diet and adequate amounts of food and drinks of their choice. Staff supported people to attend healthcare appointments and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals as required.

People were looked after by staff that were caring, compassionate and promoted their privacy and dignity. People’s views were listened to and they were actively encouraged to be involved in their care and support. Any information about people was respected and treated confidentially.

Staff were knowledgeable about how to meet people’s needs and understood how people preferred to be supported. People were encouraged to take part in activities and interests of their choice. There were effective systems in place for responding to complaints and people were made aware of the complaints processes.

We found that the service had good leadership and as a result, staff were positive in their desire to provide good quality care for people. Quality assurance systems were in place and were used to obtain feedback, monitor service performance and manage risks.