Cranbourne House

Updated 16 September 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 2 inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Cranbourne House 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. Cranbourne House 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 a registered manager in post.

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 sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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 spent time in communal areas observing the care and support provided by staff. We spoke with 4 people who used the service, 3 relatives via the telephone and 10 members of staff including support workers, team leader, registered manager, operations manager, quality lead and regional director.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and medicine records. We reviewed 3 staff recruitment files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 16 September 2023

About the service

Cranbourne House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 8 people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service.

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:

Risk management when people were expressing distress or agitation was unreliable. Staff were inconsistent when recording and reporting incidents and concerns. Managers investigated incidents which were appropriately recorded but this was not always done quickly enough. These shortfalls had not been picked up through the provider’s governance arrangements.

Systems for learning lessons were in place but unreliable practice meant some events were not analysed and lessons were not always learned.

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.

Staff supported people to engage in person-centred activities.

Right Care:

Care plans were comprehensive and reflected people’s individual needs.

People were relaxed in the company of staff and interactions were mostly positive. One incident of concern occurred which was dealt with by the management team promptly and appropriately.

The service worked effectively with external stakeholders. The management team and staff understood the importance and benefits of working alongside other professionals.

Right Culture:

The service promoted person-centred care involving people who used the service and their families.

Staff felt well supported in their role and had opportunities to share their views.

The provider had a range of systems and processes to monitor the quality of the service and drive improvements.

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 4 January 2021) and there was a breach of regulation relating to infection prevention and control measures. 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 regulation relating to infection prevention and control measures.

The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the second consecutive inspection.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last comprehensive inspection carried out on 24 July 2019 to calculate the overall rating. This is based on the findings at this 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 COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to how the management of risks to people and governance arrangements at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety.

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good and will work with the local authority to monitor progress.

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