• Care Home
  • Care home

Ivy Cottage

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Ackton Lane, Ackton Featherstone, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, WF7 6HP (01977) 701370

Provided and run by:
Ivy Cottage (Ackton) Ltd

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 25 November 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

The inspection was carried out by 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

Ivy Cottage 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. Ivy Cottage 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 not a registered manager in post. The registered manager had left the service in the month before this inspection and was in the process of deregistering with CQC. The provider had taken prompt action to recruit another registered manager and had ensured a constant manager presence at the location. CQC had been notified appropriately.

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.

Inspection activity started on 25 October 2022 and ended on 26 October 2022. We visited the location on 25 October 2022.

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 reviewed 3 people’s care plans and associated records. We spoke with 4 people and 2 relatives about their views of the care provided. We spoke with the operations manager, deputy manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with 3 staff members and received written feedback from 6 other staff members. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, staff recruitment and supervision records. We received feedback from an advocate; advocates in social care are trained to help people understand their rights, express their views and wishes, and help make sure their voice is heard.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 25 November 2022

About the service

Ivy Cottage is residential care home providing accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care up to a maximum of 14 people. The service is a care home without nursing. The service provides support to people living with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, in 2 adjacent buildings; Ivy Cottage and Ivy Croft. At the time of the inspection 14 people were using the service; 10 people lived in Ivy Cottage and 4 people lived in Ivy Croft.

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 model of care and setting maximised people's choice, control and independence. Risks to people were assessed, monitored and managed safely. Systems in place protected people. The provider had acted to manage infection risks. There were enough staff to safely meet people's needs. Staff had the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to know how to meet people's needs, and people were actively involved in recruiting staff.

People's medicine support was managed safely, and staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests and to achieve their aspirations and goals. People had a choice about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making and communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Care:

Care was person-centred and delivered in a way which promoted people's dignity, privacy and human rights. Staff offered people choices and involved people when supporting them with activities and meals. The provider worked alongside partnership agencies to ensure people's support needs were identified; this ensured people achieved good outcomes. People’s equality characteristics were explored and celebrated. Safety and support plans identified people’s circles of support.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse and 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. People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People received care that supported their needs and aspirations, was focused on their quality of life, and followed best practice.

Right Culture:

The provider’s quality assurance systems, processes of audit and service review ensured the safety and quality of care. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured all people using the service lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. People were supported to regularly identify, or review, on-going individual aspirations and life goals.

Staff valued and acted upon people’s views. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity.

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 29 April October 2019).

Why we inspected

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

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 changed from requires improvement to good. 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 Ivy Cottage 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.