Polesworth Group Laurel End

Updated 13 December 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 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

Laurel End 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. Laurel End 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

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spent time with 8 people using the service and 6 shared their feedback with us. We gained feedback from 7 relatives through telephone conversations. We spoke with 4 care staff, the registered manager and the chief executive officer. We reviewed 2 people’s care plans, risk assessments and medication administration records. We reviewed 2 staff files to review the recruitment methods in place. We looked at a range of policies, audits and systems in place that monitored the safety and quality of the service.

Updated 13 December 2023

About the service

Laurel End is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 9 people. The service is registered to provide personal care and support to people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder.

At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 9 people who were receiving personal care.

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 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.

Right Support

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. People's freedom was not unnecessarily restricted, and people were not physically restrained.

People's support was provided in a residential care home. Checks were undertaken by the management team to ensure the home was safe, clean, equipped and maintained. Any maintenance issues were escalated to the maintenance staff member.

Staff worked with people, their relatives and health and social care professionals to maintain people's overall health and wellbeing. Staff supported people to take their medicines safely and as prescribed.

Right Care

People were supported by staff who knew them well and were kind toward them. People's safety and care needs were identified, their care was planned, and their needs were met. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and were confident the registered manager would take action to protect people, should this be required. Robust recruitment checks made sure staff were of suitable character to support people.

Right Culture

There was a positive and person-centered culture at the service. People and relatives had opportunities to share feedback on the service. Staff were involved in sharing feedback through meetings and feedback forms. Staff felt valued in their roles.

The positive culture meant people received care that was tailored to their needs. The registered manager and chief executive officer operations undertook safety and quality checks on people's care and used their findings to improve the quality of the service and to take learning from any incidents that occurred.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 5 December 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.