Archived: Primrose House

Updated 5 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

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

Primrose House provides care and accommodation for up to five people with learning

disabilities. On the day of our inspection five people were using the service, and each had their own room within the home.

The responsibility of running the service was being shared by senior staff due to unforeseen personal circumstances involving the provider. Registered managers 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 unannounced.

The inspection took place on 10 May 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed:

•The Provider information return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

•Notifications we had received. These are events within the service the provider is required to tell us about.

•The previous inspection report.

During the inspection we:

•Reviewed two people’s care records and discussed the care of all five people with staff.

•Reviewed records of accidents and incidents.

•Discussed the complaints process and complaints received within the past 12 months.

•Reviewed audits and quality assurance reports

•Observed the care of people where possible.

•Spoke with four people.

•Observed staff interaction with people.

•Spoke with three staff about their training, support and people’s needs.

•Reviewed people’s medicines.

•Received feedback from Devon local authority quality improvement team.

Updated 5 June 2019

About the service

Primrose House provides care and accommodation for up to five people with learning

disabilities, Asperger’s or Autism. On the day of our inspection there were five people living at the service.

People’s experience of using the service

People using the service benefitted from caring, dedicated staff. Not all people living at Primrose House were able to verbally express their views, but we observed they looked comfortable and at ease with staff. Their non-verbal body language, facial expressions and laughter indicated they were happy.

People and their families, if appropriate, were placed at the heart of the service and involved in decisions as far as possible.

People’s care was provided safely. The staff team were consistent, staff knew people well and people were supported where required and if needed when they were out of the home.

People’s medicines were well managed.

People’s risks were known and managed well, promoting independence as far as possible. Staff were aware of people’s risks and supported people to reduce these as far as possible.

People were protected from discrimination because staff knew how to safeguard people. Staff knowledge of people meant they were alert to signs of change which may indicate someone was not happy.

People lived in a service which had a positive culture and was led by a caring management and staff team.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways; independence, choice and control over day to day routines and inclusion and involvement in the local community. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and develop and maintain their independence.

Primrose House has worked in partnership with the local authority, commissioners and learning disability service in the past 12 months to improve the quality of care provided.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated as Requires Improvement (The last report was published 3 July 2018). At this inspection the overall rating had improved to Good.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to look at improvements the service had made following the previous rating. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned based on the rating. If we receive any concerns we may bring our inspection forward.

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