Standon House

Standon House is a residential care home without nursing care. The home accommodates a maximum of 31 people in one adapted building. At the time of this inspection 27 people lived in home, some of whom were living with dementia. Accommodation was provided over two floors with shared communal facilities, including lounge and dining areas.

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

People were not always safe as the infection prevention and control procedures were not always effectively implemented. The provider still needed to improve their systems for identifying and mitigating potential environmental issues which could put people at the risk of harm.

The provider had not developed some protocols for the administration of specific medicines. However, people received their medicines, as prescribed, by staff members who had been trained and assessed as competent.

The provider and management team needed to make further improvements in their quality assurance checks to ensure people received good care in a safe environment.

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.

The management team reviewed any incidents, accidents and near misses to identify whether any trends could be established or whether anything else could be done differently to safely support people.

People were protected from the risks of abuse and ill treatment.

People were engaged with decisions about the service they received and felt their opinions were valued by the management team.

The provider and management team had good links with the local communities within which people lived.

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 11 February 2022) and there were breaches 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

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall 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.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this report.

Follow up

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

Standon House is a residential care home that accommodates up to 31 people. At the time of this inspection they were providing personal care and accommodation to 28 people, some of whom were living with dementia.

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

People were not always safe as the infection prevention and control procedures were not effectively implemented.

The provider did not have effective systems in place to identify environmental issues which could put people at the risk of harm. The physical environment did not consistently support the needs of people living with dementia or those with sensory needs.

The provider had not consistently assessed the risks associated with people’s care and support. People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible or in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support best practice.

Staff members, although knowledgeable about those they supported, had significant gaps in their training putting people at risk of receiving inconsistent care and support. People were not consistently protected from the risks of ill-treatment and abuse as a significant proportion of staff had not been trained to recognise potential signs of abuse.

The provider and management team did not have effective systems in place to identify improvements and drive good care. The provider had systems in place to encourage feedback from people or those close to them. However, when this feedback was received there was no process to formally respond with any identified actions.

People received safe support with their medicines by staff members who had been trained and assessed as competent. The provider had systems in place to complete an investigation, should a medicine error occur, to ensure the person was safe and lessons were learnt to minimise the risk of reoccurrence.

The provider, and management team, had good links with the local communities within which people lived. People received help and support from a kind and compassionate staff team with whom they had developed positive relationships. People were supported by staff members who were aware of their individual protected characteristics like age, gender and disability.

People were provided with information in a way they could understand. The provider had systems in place to encourage and respond to any compliments or complaints from people or those close to them.

The provider had kept the CQC informed about significant events at Standon House.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 31/03/2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our published inspection methodology. In addition, the inspection was prompted in part by notification of a specific incident. Following which a person using the service sustained a serious injury. This incident is subject to a formal investigation. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.

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.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full 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 will continue to monitor the service and we will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to the physical environment, assessment of risk, supporting people’s rights and quality management of Standon House.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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.