3 Ferndale Close

Updated 14 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection Team:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

3 Ferndale Close is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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. The registered manager was also the provider and owner. During this inspection visit they were unavailable, so we spent time with the home manager.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced. The registered manager was given 24 hours' notice because they provide care and support to people in their own home. We needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office to speak with us and to let people know of our arrival.

What we did when preparing for and carrying out this inspection:

Prior to the inspection, we looked at the information we held about the service since it was first registered with us and any notifications they provider was required to send to us. We used this information to help us plan our inspection. We considered the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we ask the provider to send to us at least annually to give us key information about the service such as what it does well and any improvements they plan to make. Through our conversations with the management team and staff we gave them an opportunity to tell us and show us how what they described to us translated into everyday practice.

During our visit, we spoke with one person who used the service to get their first-hand account of what it was like from their experience. We spoke with a home manager, one senior care staff member and two care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. For example, we looked at one care plan, medication records and examples of related healthcare records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the home. These included systems for managing any complaints, staff training and people’s feedback. We looked at the provider’s checks on the quality of care provided that assured them they delivered the best service they could.

Updated 14 June 2019

About the service: 3 Ferndale Close is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to one younger adult who may have a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, sensory or mental health needs. At the time of the announced inspection, one person was living at the home.

3 Ferndale House is a residential town house and care is provided across two floors, with communal areas located on each floor.

The care service has been developed in line with the values that underpin Registering the Right Support guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People using the service were treated as an individual, encouraged to lead active lifestyles and were involved within the local and wider community. The values and ethos of the service was to promote and support independence through person centred care.

People’s experience of using this service:

The person enjoyed living at the home and felt well supported by kind, caring and considerate staff. Staff supported the person to be as independent as possible, such as making their own decisions and doing the things they wanted to do.

The person did they things they wanted to do because staff’s approach involved positive risk taking which enabled them to do something, rather than prevent them. This meant the person was enabled to undertake age appropriate activities with any risks identified and managed with their consent and agreement. Social inclusion and independence was a clear focus of the care they provided. The person was involved in activities and personal interests which included a range of individual and social activities.

Staff ‘s focus and attention to detail was evident. Staff knew the person well, what worked well and how to recognise signs of past and current anxieties and how this could affect their mental wellbeing. Staff understood people’s concerns and were quick to offer reassurance and seek support and guidance from other healthcare professionals when needed.

There were enough staff to provide the support and engagement needed. Staffing cover over a 24-hour period meant the person had one to one staff support seven days a week. Planned staff breaks were agreed so staff and the person had their own time to do the things they wanted to do.

Records supported safe care and risk management. However, it was not always clear how risk scores were calculated so the home manager agreed to review them to make sure, risks continued to be managed safely. Care plan records were reviewed, and we recommended the small but more personal information staff knew about the person, should be included to ensure a consistent approach was maintained.

The person’s dietary needs, preferences and nutritional needs were assessed, recorded and followed with the person’s consent.

Medicines were administered safely from trained and competent staff. Regular checks and safe medicines management ensured any errors were kept to a minimum.

Staff had training in relevant subjects and they were clear about their own and other roles and responsibilities, such as safeguarding people from poor practice.

The person continued to have choice and control of their life and staff continually promoted choices that were the least restrictive.

Quality assurance systems were effective and any learning from those audits or when issues arose, resulted in actions. Health and safety, infection control and fire safety checks were regularly completed. During our visit we identified a potential fire risk with a fire door and the registered manager sought immediate action to reduce the risk.

We found the service met the characteristics of a “Good” rating in five areas. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection: This is the first rating inspection since the provider registered with us on 13 September 2017.

Why we inspected: This was a planned and announced inspection based on date the provider registered with us. We aim to inspect newly registered services within 12 months of registration.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk