Essex Care Consortium - Plume Avenue

Updated 24 October 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type:

Essex Care Consortium – Plume Avenue is a care home. People in care homes received accommodation and nursing or personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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:

The inspection was announced. This was because it was a small service and we had to be sure someone would be available to give us access to the information we required.

What we did when preparing for and carrying out this inspection:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since our last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We assessed the information we require providers to send us as least once annually to give some key information about the service what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with the assistant general manager, registered manager, and one member of staff. We also spoke with one person who used the service. Because other people were unable to communicate verbally with us or were not home on the day of inspection, we observed the care and support provided to people and the interaction between staff and people throughout our inspection.

After the inspection we contacted two relatives for feedback about the service.

Updated 24 October 2019

About the service:

Essex Care Consortium – Plume Avenue is a residential care home, providing personal care and accommodation for six people who may have a learning disability and or complex/physical health needs.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were safe living in the service. Risks had been identified and people were looked after safely.

Staff were kind and caring and supported people to be as independent as possible.

People had access to healthcare professionals when required and were supported to have enough to eat and drink to maintain their well being.

Staff knew how to care for people, they were kind and compassionate. Staff used their skills and the resources and equipment provided so the risk of accidental harm or infections was reduced. Staff had developed effective skills to meet the complex needs of the people at the service.

People were supported to have their prescribed medicines safely to remain well.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

Positive partnerships had been developed with external health and social care professionals. People benefited from good multi-disciplinary working.

The registered manager had clear oversight of the service and worked alongside staff. Staff were respectful of the register manager and told us the registered manager was approachable and supportive.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (date of the last report published was (7th January 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor this service in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.