Alternative House Care Home

Updated 11 March 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 01/02/2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 11 March 2022

About the service

Feng Shui House Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to people aged 65 and over. The service is registered to support up to 20 people, at the time of the inspection there was one person who lived at the home. The home is in the seaside resort of Blackpool overlooking the south promenade. There are two communal lounges and all bedrooms have en-suite facilities.

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

The service was not always safe. We observed staff not following good practice guidance around infection prevention and control including the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Staff were trained to give medicines and staff told us they were confident giving people medicines. Staff were aware of how to identify and report safeguarding concerns. Staff were able to tell us about the risks to people and knew how to support people to minimise the risks.

The service was not always well-led. Records relating to care and the management of the service were either incomplete, inaccurate and/or not kept up to date. We found no impact to people however; this could have compromised the quality and safety of the service provided. We have made a recommendation about this.

The service was effective. We were assured 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. However, we found documentation was at times conflicting, we have made a recommendation about this.

People were involved in their care planning. Staff told us that they received training and felt supported in their role. People told us they enjoyed the food and they were offered choice. The service was caring. Staff were aware of how to protect people’s privacy and dignity and people told us the staff did this well.

The service was responsive. Staff had received training in end of life care. Staff were aware of people's communication needs and how best to support them. People told us the service is flexible and responsive to their needs.

The provider worked with us in a positive manner and provided all the information we requested. Additionally, they responded promptly to our concerns during and after the inspection

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 inadequate (21 May 2021). At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations around consent to care and good governance. However not enough improvement had been made with regards to safe care and treatment and the provider remains in breach for this regulation.

This service has been in Special Measures since 28 April 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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 improvement. Please see the safe and well led section 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 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 infection control, at this inspection.

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

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.