Autumn House Residential Home

Updated 1 October 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 completed by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Autumn House Residential Home 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. Autumn House Residential Home 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 not a registered manager in post however, the manager had applied to CQC to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 23 August 2022 and ended on 7 September 2022. We visited the location’s service on 23 August 2022.

What we did before the 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included inspection reports, action plans submitted by the provider and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and ten family members about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from two external professionals. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the manager, deputy manager, provider's quality lead, care workers, activity staff, administration staff, catering staff and the provider’s nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We observed care being provided within communal areas of the home and viewed the home and garden.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including records of checks completed on the fire detection systems. We looked at training data, policies and procedures, records of accidents or incidents, complaints and quality assurance records.

Updated 1 October 2022

About the service

Autumn House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 44 older people many of whom had dementia. At the time of this inspection there were 40 people living at the home.

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

Most people and their family members gave us positive feedback about the home and told us staff were kind and caring. We observed positive communication between staff and people.

There were usually enough staff to support people's needs and the provider was recruiting further staff to increase staffing levels especially at night. Appropriate recruitment procedures had generally been followed to help ensure only suitable staff were employed. Staff had received training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely.

Systems were in place so that medicines were administered safely and as prescribed which staff usually followed. The manager had taken action to improve the meals being provided. Infection prevention and control measures were in place and followed government guidance.

Individual and most environmental risks were assessed and managed appropriately. People had access to any necessary equipment where needed, which helped ensure people were safe from harm.

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.

There were appropriate policies and systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and the management team and staff understood the actions they should take to keep people safe.

Care plans contained detailed relevant information about people's health and social care support needs. People and, where appropriate family members, were involved in the development of care plans. People were able to access health and social care professionals if needed.

The management team carried out regular checks on the quality and safety of the service and understood their regulatory responsibilities. People, their family members and external professionals said the manager was approachable and supportive. Staff were also positive about the manager.

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 30 March 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider review local safeguarding adults board procedures to ensure robust processes are in place to safeguard people from abuse. At this inspection we found appropriate action had been taken.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. 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.

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 requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.