Bloomberg Care Services Ltd

Updated 30 January 2021

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 was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

9 Grenville Drive 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 who was not yet registered with Care Quality Commission. Their application was in the process of being considered when we inspected.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out, we wanted to be sure there would be people and staff at home to speak with us.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service, three care staff the deputy manager, manager and provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We requested additional information from the provider regarding training, recruitment and policies. We contacted two health and social care professionals for their feedback about the home.

Updated 30 January 2021

9 Grenville Road is a residential care home providing personal care for younger people living with a learning disability and/or autism. The service is registered to support two people.

People using the service lived in a semi-detached house, with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities.

People’s experience of using the service

The provider's recruitment practice had not always been effective and improvements were required.

The provider had made improvements to the systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service and these now needed to be embedded.

Staff knew how to report accidents and incidents and learning from these took place. Arrangements were in place to ensure that all staff would receive the required physical intervention training which will include de-escalation techniques.

Infection control guidance was in place. People had risk assessments in place including risks related to the COVID -19 pandemic.

People were supported by staff who knew their needs. Staff understood what action to take if they suspected somebody was being harmed or abused. Medicines were managed safely.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, 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 providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. Granville Drive looked like a family home and there were no identifying external signs to indicate the house was a care home. People had been supported to personalise their rooms. The home was within easy access of local amenities which people were supported to access. The atmosphere in the home was welcoming and calm. Accessible information was used to support people’s understanding and engagement.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published February 2020) and there was one breach 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 enough improvement had been made to meet that breach. However, a new breach of the regulations was identified, and the service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two inspections.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection due to incoming information of concern including a safeguarding incident and to check they had followed their action plan to confirm they had met the legal requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for this service has remained the same requires improvement. 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 9 Glenville Drive on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe section of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this report.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

We identified a breach in relation to unsafe recruitment practice, this may put people at risk of harm.

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 their recruitment practice. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.