Archived: Stonecroft

Updated 22 March 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:

This inspection took place on 5 March 2019 and was announced. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type: Stonecroft is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 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 registered manager one days’ notice of the inspection visit because it is a small respite service. We notified the registered manager as we needed to be sure that people were using the service when we visited.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about this service. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a document that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the information provided in the PIR and used this to help inform our inspection. We also reviewed previous inspection reports and the details of safeguarding events and statutory notifications sent by the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us by law, like a death or a serious injury.

We spoke with two people using the service and their relatives during the inspection. We spoke with a further two relatives by telephone, the following day. We spoke with two support workers, and the registered manager. We looked at two people's care records, recruitment records for three staff and reviewed records relating to the management of medicines. We also looked at records in relation to complaints, staff training, maintenance of the premises and equipment and how the registered person monitored the quality of the service.

Updated 22 March 2019

About the service: Stonecroft provides accommodation and personal care for people with a learning disability. The service provides short breaks and support to people during the day, supporting up to a maximum of three people at any one time. There are currently 12 people using the service.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe using the service. Staff had good understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to report concerns. Risks to people were assessed and managed, without restricting their freedom. The registered manager had good systems in place to manage medicines and prevent spread of infection. Where things had gone wrong, systems were in place to learn from such incidents and improve the service.

Staff were aware of people’s specific health needs, and people were being supported to live healthier lives. People’s relatives were confident there was sufficient staff who had the skills and knowledge about how to support their relative during their stay. People were supported to have access to food and drink of their choice.

Relatives were confident their family member was were well cared for, by staff that knew them well. Relatives were involved in making decisions about the care their family member received, and were confident that any changes were noted and responded to. People's privacy, dignity and independence was promoted and respected.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible: the polices and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and their relatives were clear about who they should contact if they had any queries or concerns and were confident these would be dealt with.

Staff were aware of the vison and values of the company and applied these in their day to day roles ensuring people received person centred care when using the service. Systems were in place to assess the quality of the service, and ensure risks and regulatory requirements were being understood and managed.

The service had been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the CQC Registering the Right Support policy and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

Rating at last inspection: This is the first inspection of the service since it was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) on 12 March 2018.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection to rate the service.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor all intelligence received about this service to ensure that the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.