Meadow House

Updated 25 November 2021

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

Two inspectors conducted by the inspection.

Service and service type

Meadow House 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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A manager was in post and had submitted an application to registered with CQC. A registered manager 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

The inspection visit was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people about their experiences of their care and support. We spoke with five members of staff including the nominated individual, the manager, a senior support worker, a support worker and the activities co-ordinator. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and support and a range of records relating to the management of the service, including environmental and fire safety risk assessments, quality and safety audits and checks and the provider’s policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We looked at training data and some of the provider’s policies and procedures.

Updated 25 November 2021

About the service

Meadow House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to nine younger adults and older people whose primary needs relate to their mental ill health. At the time of our inspection seven people lived at the home.

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

People felt safe living at Meadow House and staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe. Improvements had been made to the management of individual and environmental risk, including fire safety. However, further improvement was needed to ensure all care was provided safely in a safe environment. Staff had been recruited safely and people received their medicine as prescribed from trained staff. Staff had been trained in the prevention and control of infection and worked to current COVID-19 government guidance.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Records to relating to the assessments of people’s capacity and best interest decision making, required improvement. The manager and staff worked in partnership with other professionals to support people to maintain their physical and mental health and wellbeing. Staff had been recruited safely and received the training and support they needed to be effective in their roles. People had confidence in the skills and knowledge of the staff who provided their care and support.

People and staff spoke highly of the manager and management oversight of the service had improved. The manager had created an open culture based on trust, respect and teamwork. The open culture encouraged learning when things had gone wrong. People were encouraged to share their views of the service. Further work was needed to ensure feedback was understood and used to drive improvement. The manager had introduced a range of quality monitoring systems and processes. However, further time was needed for these to be fully effective and embedded. The manager and staff team demonstrated their commitment to ensuring people received a quality service that reflected and met each person’s individual needs.

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 last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 07 January 2021). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 24 November 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and governance of the service.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained requires improvement. This is based on the findings at 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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Meadow House 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 re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.