Dovecote

Updated 23 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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Dovecote 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. Dovecote 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 not a 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 unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited the service on 4 and 9 May 2023. We spoke with 6 staff members including the manager, deputy manager, support workers and maintenance lead. We spoke with 2 professionals who worked with the service. We spoke with 5 people who used the service. Not everyone living at the service wanted to speak with us, therefore we spent time observing interactions between staff and people. We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people's care records and their medicine records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including incident management, improvement plans, and maintenance records were reviewed.

Updated 23 June 2023

About the service

Dovecote is a residential care home providing the regulated activity of personal care to up to 15 people. The service provides support to young adults with mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection there were 12 people using the service.

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

Risks were assessed, managed and monitored to keep people safe from harm. Medicines were managed safely. Systems and processes in place protected people from the risk of abuse and neglect. The provider ensured enough suitably trained staff were always deployed to safely meet people's needs. We were assured that the provider’s infection prevention and control policy was up to date. Lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

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.

The manager had effective oversight of the service and was praised by staff, people and health and social care professionals for the changes they had made at the service. Staff referred to health and social care professionals and implemented their advice into care plans in order to improve outcomes for people. The manager understood their responsibility to be open and honest with people and acted when things went wrong. People and staff were involved in shaping the service.

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 27 January 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.

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 COVID-19 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 changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.