SENSE Tanglewood

Updated 18 April 2024

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 team consisted of 1 inspector on the first day and 2 inspectors for the subsequent 2 days.

Service and service type

SENSE Tanglewood 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. SENSE Tanglewood 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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had was in post and had applied to register. CQC are currently assessing this application.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 15 January 2024 and ended on 22 January 2024. We visited the location’s service on 15, 17 and 22 January 2024.

What we did before the inspection

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals 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 2 people who used the service and observed how other people were being supported. We spoke with 6 members of staff including senior operational staff, the manager and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 6 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 4 agency staff profiles and 3 staff files in relation to safe recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies, procedures, and safeguarding incident records.

Updated 18 April 2024

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

SENSE Tanglewood is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 7 people. The service provides support to people with sensory impairment, learning disabilities and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service. The service is provided in a large, detached home in a residential area.

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

Right Support:

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. People did not always have support that matched their assessed needs, and where people were assessed as needing additional support to manage risks, this was not always provided.

Right Care:

Care was not always person-centred and did not always promote people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. People were not always engaged in meaningful activities and where people had hobbies and interests this was not reflected in what they did through the day.

Right Culture:

Whilst there had been an improvement in the culture, ethos and values in the service; attitudes and behaviours from staff did not always ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. The provider’s governance systems were not effective. Governance systems did not ensure people were always kept safe and received a high quality of care and support in line with their personal needs.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 7 September 2023).

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of some regulations, however the provider remained in breach of other regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 7 September 2023. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for SENSE Tanglewood on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care, people’s safe care and the governance of the service at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.