The Haven

Updated 21 June 2023

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 carried out by an inspector.

Service and service type

The Haven 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. The Haven 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was no registered manager in post. A new manager had been in post for 5 months and had submitted an application to register. We are currently assessing this application.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people using it sometimes find visitors to the service stressful and they needed time to prepare.

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 reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spent time observing how staff interacted with people to help us understand the experience of people living at the service. We spoke with the manager, the area manager and 3 staff members. We looked at a range of records relating to health and safety, and the management of the home. We spoke with 2 people’s relatives and received correspondence from 1 person’s relatives. We looked at 3 people’s care plans, audits, training data, 2 staff recruitment records, quality assurance records and meeting minutes. We have continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence found.

Updated 21 June 2023

About the service

The Haven is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 5 people. People were living with complex care needs relating to autism and learning disabilities. At the time of our inspection, there were 4 people using the service. One of the 4 people lived in an annex to the building, but they also had access to the main building when they wanted.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

The model of care took people’s individual needs and risks into account. Communal areas were used to ensure people had space and some people enjoyed spending time in their rooms. There were plans to refurbish a small garden summerhouse to create additional space for people to spend their time.

People were not able to tell us they felt safe living at the Haven, but we observed people to be relaxed in the company of staff. Safeguarding concerns had been responded to promptly. The number of incidents had reduced significantly. 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. Additional work was being carried out to reassess people’s capacity to understand and make choices and decisions. Staff told us and we observed that people were making more choices about what they did during the day.

Right Care:

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and wishes. Emphasis had been placed on ensuring that staff had the skills, knowledge, and experience to meet people’s needs. A lack of staff who could drive had an impact on the number and quality of activities that were provided. However, the manager was in the process of recruiting more staff who were also drivers. Staff had plans to introduce people to new activities and two people had recently started swimming on a regular basis.

People received their medicines safely. The frequency of medicines given on an as required basis had reduced significantly.

Right Culture:

Audits were comprehensive and effective in identifying shortfalls which were then promptly addressed. The home had identified some improvements needed in relation to developing some areas of record keeping and work was underway to address this.

A new manager had started in post and staff spoke positively of the culture and ethos that had been created. Improvements made in relation to how people were communicated with had led to a reduction in incidents. People had been involved in choosing new bedding, in making choices about the food they ate and the activities they wanted to take part in. People’s relatives felt that there was good communication, and they were kept informed of any changes to people’s wellbeing. Equally they told us they felt comfortable contacting the service if they had any concerns.

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 28 June 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. We served the provider a Warning Notice under Section 29 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The notice required the provider to become compliant with a breach relating to governance.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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 coronavirus 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 remained requires improvement.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for The Haven on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.