Martindale Road

Updated 24 September 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Martindale Road is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and we looked at both during this inspection.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. The service manager was also in the process of applying to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We contacted the local Healthwatch branch to ask if they had received any information about the service; they had not. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Inspection activity started on 24 June 2022 and ended on 14 July 2022. We visited the home on 27 and 28 June 2022.

We spoke with five members of staff including the service manager and area manager, We also spoke with a visiting adult social care professional We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including procedures, staff supervision, audits and medicines support records for three people.

After our visit we spoke with five relatives and friends of people who use the service and two healthcare professionals who have worked with the service. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at three people’s support plans, training and quality assurance records, and recruitment data for three staff.

Updated 24 September 2022

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Martindale Road is a residential care home providing personal care to seven people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to seven people.

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

The service was not able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Right support

People did not always benefit from an interactive and stimulating environment, or frequent support to take part in activities, so they did not have fulfilling and meaningful everyday lives.

Staff did not always communicate with people in ways that met their needs.

Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community.

The service gave people care and support in a clean and well-equipped environment that met their physical needs. People and their relatives were able to personalise their rooms.

Staff supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their safety and independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.

Staff supported people to maintain their health and access healthcare services.

Right care

People did not always receive kind and compassionate care that respected their dignity or promoted good end of life care.

People’s support plans did not always reflect their range of needs to promote their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

The service had enough staff to keep people safe. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. The service worked with other agencies to do so.

Staff received training and an induction to help them support people.

Right culture

The provider’s monitoring processes were not always effective in helping to ensure people consistently received good quality care and support.

People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in their care.

Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who could get to know them well.

The provider had a clear vision for the service based on a culture of improvement to enhance people’s quality of life.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 21 June 2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was requires improvement, published on 7 October 2020.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to assess that the service is applying the principles of Right support right care right culture. 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.

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 monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have found breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, treating people with dignity and respect, person centred care, and good governance at this inspection. You can see the CQC's regulatory response to these concerns at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.