12 Church Avenue Harrogate

Updated 5 August 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.

Inspection team

Two inspectors, a member of the CQC medicines team and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. 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

12 Church Avenue Harrogate 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. 12 Church Avenue Harrogate 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

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

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 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 six people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, managing director, head of residential services and support staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and five 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 continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 5 August 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

12 Church Avenue Harrogate is a residential care home providing personal care for up to six people. At the time of the inspection they were supporting six people with dual sensory impairment/loss and/or people with learning disabilities. 12 Church Avenue Harrogate is a semi-detached house with communal spaces and bedrooms over three floors.

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

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

Right Support

Staff supported people to have the maximum possible choice, control and independence be independent and they had control over their own lives. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and take part in activities in their local area including interacting online with people who had shared interests. More needed to be done to document and support people to meet their goals and aspirations.

Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome. Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

The service was personalised and reflective of the people that lived there, their interests and people proudly displayed their own artwork. However, the décor and furnishings were old and tired, and the provider had plans to refurbish and replace the existing furnishings to better meet their needs.

Right Care

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse and the service worked well with other agencies to do so.

People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs.

Staff knew people well and treated them like family. More staff were needed in the evenings and at weekends to support people into the community as they wanted.

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, in 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. Staff valued and acted upon people’s views.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating

This service was registered with us on 1st December 2020 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, (published on 5 December2018.)

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of right support right care right culture. We also inspected this service to provide the new provider with a rating.

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.

Recommendations

We have made recommendations around staffing levels and deployment.

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.