Laburnum Lodge

Updated 31 May 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

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

Laburnum Lodge 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. Laburnum Lodge is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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 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, Healthwatch, and professionals who work with the service. 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke and spent time with all five people who lived in the service. We spoke with three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff during the inspection process including the registered manager and provider.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI), spent time with people and observed breakfast, dinner and an art activity. SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and four medicines records. We looked at three 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 continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from four professionals who engage with the service and received written further feedback from two members of staff.

Updated 31 May 2022

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.

About the service

Laburnum Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to five people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to six people.

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

People told us they felt safe with staff and living in the service. Safeguarding processes were robust and staff had good knowledge of peoples needs, the risks they might face and how to mitigate those risks. Medicines were managed safely and the safety of the environment was monitored and adapted as needed.

People were supported by kind caring staff who encouraged choices and people to lead the lives they wanted to. People had freedom to choose when they saw family, where they went and make decisions about their daily living.

The service was aware of and understood best practise guidance around support for people with a learning disability and worked with people to remove barriers and reduce social stigma. People had access to healthcare appointments and staff knew how to identify and what to do if a person was becoming unwell.

The service was homely and people were proud of their personalised bedrooms. People were treated with dignity and respect. People were supported to take part in the activity of their choice during the day or in the evening and supported to have social lives. There was a system in place to manage complaints but people and relatives told us there had been no cause to complain.

Staff felt supported by the leadership team who were visible and people knew them well. Quality assurance processes were robust and the service worked towards improving itself based on people’s feedback.

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 statutory guidance which supports CQC 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 the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. The service gave people care and support in a safe, clean, well equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment that met their sensory and physical needs. People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. Staff and people cooperated to assess risks people might face. Where appropriate, staff encouraged and enabled people to take positive risks.

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. Staff knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. Staff turnover was very low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating

This service was registered with us on 06 July 2020 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 16 September 2017.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture and to provide a rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.