Rycroft Apartments

Updated 31 December 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 completed by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Rycroft Apartments is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Rycroft Apartments is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave at least 48 hours notice of this inspection to ensure the people using the service were not distressed by an inspector visiting. We visited the service on 5 December 2022 and spoke with relatives and staff on 6 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they registered. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 5 members of staff including the registered manager, regional operations manager and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 31 December 2022

About the service

Rycroft Apartments is a residential care home for up to 7 people providing nursing and personal care to younger and older people living with mental health needs. At the time of inspection there were 7 people living at the home.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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

Right support:

People were supported to take positive risks with staff support if required to ensure people were safe. Staff had the training and understanding to protect people from abuse and harm. Risk assessments were detailed with clear strategies to mitigate any known risks.

People received their medicines safely by staff who had the required training and competencies to do so. People were supported to be independent in taking their medicines when appropriate and risk assessments were in place to support this.

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.

People’s health needs were met. Staff supported people to access healthcare support and referrals to healthcare professionals were completed as required. Some people had gained the skills and knowledge to be completely independent with their healthcare needs. People were supported with healthy eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Right Care:

People were at the heart of the service. People were consistent in telling us, staff were caring and kind. People felt valued at Rycroft Apartments and told us, staff promoted their dignity and independence, and treated them with respect. People were supported to learn new skills and maintain the skills they already had.

People were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well. Staff had been recruited safely and had received sufficient training to support the people living at Rycroft Apartments.

People’s communication needs were recorded, and staff understood people’s preferred communication. The registered manager understood their responsibility to meet the accessible information standard and ensure all people were given every opportunity to understand information given to them.

Right Culture:

People had detailed plans of the care and support they required. Care plans were person centred and kept up to date. Equality and diversity was celebrated and people’s individual needs were met.

Systems and processes were effective in ensuring the service was safe and improvements were made as required. The registered manager and provider completed regular audits to monitor and assess the service delivered. People, staff and relatives were asked to feedback on the service.

Staff felt appreciated and were consistently positive about the management of the service. Staff were supported within their roles and the registered manager supported staff with their wellbeing. Staff told us they enjoyed working at Rycroft Apartments and felt respected at work.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 16 September 2021 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was rated good (published on 10 November 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.