Redwood House

Updated 8 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 the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had 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 22 February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 8 March 2022

About the service: Redwood House is a residential care home that was providing accommodation and care to 7 people who have a learning disability.

People’s experience of living at this home:

People told us that they liked living at Redwood House and liked some of the staff who supported them. One person talked about wishing their bedroom looked better. Another person said they were bored at weekends. Other people spoke positively about going out with staff and told us what they did. People and their relatives spoke positively about the registered manager.

Not everyone had a robust risk assessment and care plan for staff to follow in order to meet their needs and understand the risks which they faced.

Accidents and incidents were not always reviewed to ensure action had been taken to mitigate further risks. A person had had an accident and hurt themselves but a safe process had not been followed with accompanying records to ensure they were safe. No review of this incident had taken place.

People were supported to access health care services and attend routine appointments when they needed this support. Plans were put in place when the registered manager had identified when a person may not be well and in need of some input from a health professional. Although people received their medicines as the GP prescribed some safe processes were not always followed to promote people’s safety in this area.

People had enough to eat and drink, but they were not being fully involved in the planning of meals. People were not offered drinks and snacks during the day. Healthy options were not promoted or offered to people. A person’s cultural diet needs were not always being promoted and followed by staff.

The people at the home told us about the healthy activities they participated in. These included going to the gym to support their aims of being a healthy weight. However, some people’s plans relating to this lacked information, and healthy lifestyles were not encouraged when people were in the home.

People and staff worked out goals for the year but these were not developed further. There was no meaningful review of these and plans were not always made to try and achieve them. People spoke about their interests but there were limited attempts or plans made to help people explore these interests. Staff were not aware of what was available locally to inspire or fulfil people’s interests. People’s records lacked detail about these interests.

The staff were polite but task focused. They did not spend time chatting or engaging with people.

Although the home was clean it looked tired and uncared for. Basic maintenance and up keep was not taking place. The provider was not promoting the service as people’s own home. There was limited stimulation and accessible information in the home and in people’s rooms.

The registered manager and provider’s audits were not always effective at identifying short falls, enabling lessons to be learnt and improvements to be made. There was a lack of insight and a poor culture of promoting people’s rights and giving them the best of opportunities.

The home had not been fully developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen. Registering the Right Support CQC policy. Further work was needed to fully meet these values.

As a result of these findings we concluded that the service needed to make improvements and it has been rated as Requires Improvement overall with breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Rating at last inspection: This home was rated Good overall in March 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on a previous rating.

Follow up: We have requested an action plan from the provider which we will review. We will return to the home to check improvements have been made and sustained.

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