Background to this inspection
Updated
30 October 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 team consisted of two inspectors and an assistant inspector.
Service and service type
Adjuvo Care Essex Limited - Halstead is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and support workers. We reviewed a range of information. This included four people’s care and medicine records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found and request any additional information. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
30 October 2019
About the service
Adjuvo Essex Care limited – Halstead is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 12 people with a learning disability and autism.
The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 12 people. Six people were using the service. This is larger than current best practice guidance.
The outcomes for people did not fully reflect the principles and values of Registering the Right Support because a lack of skilled, trained and supported staff meant people did not receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that was appropriate and inclusive for them. Therefore people were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Staff told us there were insufficient staff in the service.
The service failed to provide adequate and meaningful activities for people.
The provider failed to learn lessons to ensure risks associated with individuals were identified, planned for and monitored effectively.
The service was not well led and management failed to have oversight of the service to drive improvement.
The service failed to encourage staff to maintain and develop their knowledge and skills. Systems for managing staff training was ineffective.
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 requires improvement (published 5 March 2019) for the second time. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
At this inspection enough improvement had not been made.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part by notification of a specific incident. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.
Following our last inspection we were informed by the provider of the decision taken to close the service, at that time a closure date had not been given. As part of our monitoring we carried out a focused inspection to review the Key Questions Safe and Well Led only.
We found shortfalls in the oversight, management, staff training and support and staffing levels which all impacted on the service’s ability to support people safely and effectively. This put people’s wellbeing at risk. Please see the safe and wellbeing sections of this report.