Archived: Ashford House

Updated 5 November 2019

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in one ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection, we reviewed the information that we held about the service and the provider including notifications about the safety and well-being of people who used 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.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with three people using the service about their experience of the care provided. We also observed interactions between people and care staff. We spoke with the nominated individual, the registered manager, the operations manager and three care practitioners. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We looked at care records and medicines administration records and medicine supplies for three people who used the service. We also looked at the personnel and training files of two care practitioners. Other documents that we looked at relating to people's care included risk assessments, staff meeting minutes, handover notes, quality audits and policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 5 November 2019

About the service

Ashford House is a supported living scheme within which the service was providing personal care to three people at the time of the inspection. Ashford House supports people with enduring mental health needs.

People using the service live in a single ‘house in multi-occupation’ which can be shared by up to six people. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

Risks associated with people’s health, medical and social care needs had been assessed and detailed guidance had been provided to staff on how to reduce known risks to keep people safe.

Medicines were managed safely and administered as prescribed.

Recruitment processes were followed robustly and help ensure that only those staff assessed as safe to work with vulnerable adults were recruited.

Support staff had been given the title of care practitioners by the provider. Care practitioners received appropriate levels of support and training to enable them to carry out their role effectively.

People received the appropriate levels of support, where required, with managing their health and medical needs. The service worked in partnership with a variety of health and medical professionals to ensure people received the right support.

People were supported to eat, drink and maintain a healthy lifestyle where this was an assessed need.

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.

We observed that people had established positive relationship with the care practitioners that supported them which were based on trust and mutual respect.

Care plans were person centred and very detailed, giving care practitioners the required information to support people appropriately and in response to their needs.

Complaints received were documented with details of the investigation and actions taken to resolve the complaints and where required make the necessary improvements.

People knew the management team well and we observed that people were able to approach them at any time.

The service had systems in place to monitor and oversee the quality of care and support that people received so that improvements could be implemented where required. Learning and development of the service was a key focus area for the management team.

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 29 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.