The Poplars

Updated 30 July 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

The Poplars is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had two managers 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 a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because, as a small respite service, people are often out or there is no-one staying there. 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 asked for feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information in the provider return. This is information providers are required to send us 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff: the two registered managers and two support workers. We looked at a range of records. This included support plans, medicine records and records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We received 16 comment forms via the CQC website. Five were completed by relatives; three by external professionals; and eight by staff. We have used some of their comments in the report.

Updated 30 July 2019

About the service

The Poplars is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to five people in an extended family house. It offers respite care to adults, all of whom have a learning disability. On the day we visited the home there were four people staying there.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

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

People were happy having respite stays at The Poplars and relatives praised the service for the support it gave them and their family members. One relative said, “[The Poplars] is run on a small scale, where [people] are individuals with special needs, and are looked after individually by [staff] who love to work there. My [family member] loves going there and looks forward to [their] visits.”

Staff knew how to keep people safe from avoidable harm and abuse; gave people their medicines safely and followed good infection prevention and control procedures. The provider ensured that lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

Staff had undertaken training and received support from senior staff to ensure they could do their job well. People enjoyed food that they had chosen.

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 received kind and compassionate care and staff respected people’s privacy, dignity and independence. People were involved in all decisions about their care.

Each person had a fully person-centred support plan, which guided staff on the support the person wanted. Staff offered people a wide range of opportunities to try new activities or do things they had previously enjoyed. People were confident their views would be listened to and complaints would be addressed.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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 requires improvement (report published 18 June 2018) and there was one breach 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 was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.