Dane House

Updated 10 January 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 team consisted of 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

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

What we did before 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 4 people during the inspection, some people were able to speak with us, others used different ways of communicating, including signs, body language and noises. We spoke with 5 relatives by telephone. We spent time observing the support and communication between people and staff in shared areas of the house. We spoke with 8 members of staff including the registered manager, the regional manager, 2 team leaders, 3 support workers and 1 agency worker. We looked at records relating to people’s care and support including risk assessments, care plans and medicine administration records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including staff rotas, training plans, audits and other documents.

Updated 10 January 2023

About the service

Dane House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 6 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 6 people.

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.

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

Right Support: Some risks to people were not documented and assessed to ensure staff had all the information they needed. People were supported by staff who knew them well and maximised their opportunities for independence. A relative said, “We are very lucky to have found this place,” a person told us, “I’m happy here.” 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 make decisions themselves and communicated with people in ways that met their needs. People were supported to maintain contact with people who were important to them. They used local community services and were supported to access health care services.

Right Care: People were receiving person centred care from staff who were kind and caring. People and their relatives spoke positively about the staff. One person told us the staff were kind and said, “They are all my favourites.” The staff respected and promoted people's dignity, privacy and human rights. People were able to access their bedrooms independently which promoted their privacy and dignity. Staff were appropriately trained and had the skills to support people’s individual needs, to communicate effectively and to support their safety.

Right Culture: The culture of the service was positive and open, staff described being well supported in their roles. Staff understood people’s sensory needs and used positive behaviour support techniques effectively to support people when they experienced episodes of distress. The registered manager and provider recognised where practice needed to improve and took immediate actions to address shortfalls in risk assessments, care plans and systems for monitoring quality.

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 24 July 2021) and there was a 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 improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 4 June 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed and action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve the need for consent. 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 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 remained as 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 Dane 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.