Palace Farm

Updated 20 July 2022

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.

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Palace Farm 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. Palace Farm 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 communicated with two people who lived at Palace Farm and had feedback from two relatives. We spoke with five members of staff, including the operations manager and office manager. We had feedback by email from seven members of staff and five external health professionals.

We reviewed a range of records including three care plans; four staff files and two people’s medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed, including policies and procedures, and quality assurance records.

Updated 20 July 2022

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Palace Farm is a residential care home providing personal care for up to three people with learning

disabilities or autistic spectrum disorders. At the time of this inspection there were three people living there. The property is a period farmhouse situated on the edge of Chudleigh. The house is set in large gardens and fields, with various buildings offering a range of work and leisure opportunities. Palace Farm is also the providers' family home.

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

Right Support

The service supported people to be independent and they had control over their own lives. People were fully involved in discussions about how they received support.

Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs, and supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, supporting them to achieve their aspirations and goals. They supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. They supported people with their medicines in a way that achieved the best possible health outcome.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care from staff who understood and responded to their individual needs. Staff knew how to protect people from poor care and abuse. They had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People who had individual ways of communicating, using body language, sounds, Makaton (a form of sign language), pictures and symbols could interact comfortably with staff and others involved in their care and support because staff had the necessary skills to understand them.

People received care that supported their needs and aspirations, was focused on their quality of life, and followed best practice. They could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them, as well as trying new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face.

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. They received good quality care and support because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes. Staff knew and understood people well. People, and those important to them, were involved in planning their care. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. Staff valued and acted upon people's views.

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 02 March 2020)

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of risk; a lack of person-centred care; staff induction and support, and risks related to the environment. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these reported concerns. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for this service is good.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Palace Farm 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.