Elliott House

Updated 30 December 2022

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 one inspector.

Service and service type

Elliott 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. Elliott 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.

Inspection activity started on 13 December 2022 and ended on19 December 2022. We visited the service on 13 December 2022.

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 professionals who work with the service. 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 spoke with 7 people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and 8 support workers including 1 senior support worker. We received feedback from 1 health and social care professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and 4 medicine records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including training information, policies and procedures and quality assurance documents were reviewed.

Updated 30 December 2022

About the service

Elliott House is a residential care home providing the regulated activity personal and nursing care to up to 11 people. The service is provided from purpose-built accommodation and provides support to people with a mental health need and or living with a learning disability or Autism. At the time of our inspection there were 11 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 the 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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support:

Improvements had been made to records. Records were detailed and gave guidance to staff, so people received care that was centred and tailored to each individual.

Improvements had been made to medicines management. Staff followed effective processes to assess and provide the support people needed to take their medicines safely. Staff contacted health professionals when people’s health needs changed.

There were sufficient staff to support people safely.

People were provided with a variety of opportunities to be part of the community. They were supported to make choices and achieve their aspirations.

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.

Right Care:

People were provided with person-centred care that enabled them to develop skills and behaviours to live more independent lives. Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights.

People were complimentary about the care provided by staff. They trusted the staff who supported them. They said staff were kind, caring and supportive of people and their families. A person told us, “I love the staff, they respect me.” People were supported to maintain contact with their families.

Staff had received safeguarding training and were clear on how and when to raise their concerns. Where appropriate, actions were taken to keep people safe.

Right Culture:

The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

Systems were in place to ensure the right culture was being promoted that people’s human rights were respected and their opinions were listened to and valued.

The home had a new registered manager since the last inspection and a management team who had good knowledge of people’s needs and clear oversight of processes in the home. There was a positive atmosphere at the service. Staff spoke very positively about working at the service and the people they cared for. Staff said the registered manager was very approachable and they were supported in their role.

A governance system was in place to monitor the quality of the service through audits and feedback received from people, their relatives and staff. Improvements had been made since the last inspection to ensure people received safe and person-centred care. Processes were in place to manage and respond to complaints and 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 19 October 2021).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and good governance. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that information was made available in an accessible format for people who did not read, staff should receive specialist training to give them more insight into the needs of people they supported and the environmental design should meet the Right Support, Right Care and Right Culture guidance. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on most of our recommendations to improve the quality of service provision. The recommendation regarding replacing the electronic gate was in the process of being actioned.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 19 August 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found.

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, Effective, Responsive 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 Elliott House 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.