The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Chatting Independently Limited - Rectory Drive

Overall: Inadequate read more about inspection ratings

3 Rectory Drive, March, Cambridgeshire, PE15 9QR (01354) 650767

Provided and run by:
Chatting Independently

All Inspections

9 & 14 November 2015

During a routine inspection

This inspection was carried out on 9 and 14 November 2014. It was an unannounced inspection and was undertaken by two inspectors. At our previous inspection on 11 April 2013 we found that all of the regulations that we assessed were being met.

Chatting Independently-Rectory Drive is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to six people who have physical disabilities. People are accommodated on one floor.

A registered manager was in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff treated people in a way they liked and there were sufficient numbers of staff, although they did not all have the required skills to safely meet people’s needs.

People were not protected from abuse because staff were not clear of who to contact if they had concerns about the safety of people.

People’s needs were not clearly recorded in their plans of care which meant that t staff did not have the information they needed to provide care in a consistent way. Care plans were not regularly reviewed to ensure that they accurately reflected people’s current needs.

Most people spoke positively about the quality of food at the home. However, people were not provided with a diet that met their needs. Appropriate risk assessments were not in place in respect of eating and drinking and this put people at an increased risk of choking. People were not always appropriately supported with their eating and drinking at mealtimes.

The provider’s monitoring and audit processes were ineffective and inadequate and had failed to identify issues in the home. Risks to people’s health, safety and welfare were not appropriately assessed and managed.

Staff had not been provided with training opportunities to ensure they had all the required skills to carry out their roles.

There was a lack of an effective quality assurance system in place to monitor the service and ensure people received good quality care.

Our concerns about the safety and welfare of people were so great that we immediately informed the local authority of these concerns. As a result of our concerns the commissioners decided to remove all people from this home on 14 November 2014.

We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

11 April 2013

During a routine inspection

We observed and talked with people using the service and staff and found staff were knowledgeable about the people living at Rectory Drive and were able to understand their needs.

Care and support was being regularly reviewed to ensure that peoples' needs were being met. Care plans were person centred and reflective of current needs.

Safeguarding policies to protect vulnerable adults were in place and staff had undertaken training. Information was available for staff informing them of how to safeguard people from abuse and raise a concern.

Procedures were in place to ensure that people using the service received their medication appropriately and staff had undertaken training.

There were regular ongoing training sessions in place to ensure that staff could safely deliver care and support to people.

4 December 2012

During a routine inspection

People who we spoke with used a combination of oral language, physical gestures and Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) technology, an electronic device to assist them with speech and communication difficulties. All five people living at the

home used AAC to assist them to communicate although they did not all rely on using this technology ay all times.

We observed that care staff continuously interacted with the people and that this was conducted in a considerate, kind and respectful manner. Staff were observed to be polite very attentive and they listened carefully to what people were saying. We found that care staff were skilled at understanding what people were communicating and as such, acted as their advocate.

Improvements had been made since the last inspection in March 2012 to ensure people were protected from abuse.

Support for staff through supervision and training had improved since the last inspection in March 2012.

Management monitoring arrangements had improved since the previous inspection in March 2012 and had ensured better outcomes for people. There were improvements in care planning arrangements and safeguarding arrangements. Care planning improvements need to be sustained so that medication documentation is accurate and that care planning documents contain all relevant information about how staff support people.

20 March 2012

During a routine inspection

People informed us they were treated with respect and that they liked the staff who supported them. They indicated that their care arrangements were "Good" and that they felt safe with care staff. One person told us, "I am going out and doing the things that I like".

31 December 2010

During an inspection in response to concerns

While we did not directly involve the people using the service in this review, we did meet them and explained why we were visiting the service. People told us that they are very happy with the service that they receive and felt staff are very good and supportive.