Honeybrook House

Updated 10 June 2023

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Honeybrook House 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. Honeybrook House 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, however, they were not present during the inspection.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced on the first day. We announced our intention to return to the home for the second day of the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 21 March 2023 and ended on 24 April 23. We visited the location’s service on 21 and 22 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we received about the service since the last inspection We asked for feedback and information about the service from the Local Authority and local Healthwatch. 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 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 4 family members of people who lived in the home about their experiences of care and support. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the interim manager, divisional and regional manager, deputy manager and support workers.

We walked around the home and looked in people's bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and communal areas.

We looked at 4 people’s care and medication records and we reviewed further records relating to the safety, quality, and management of the service. We received feedback from 1 professional that visited the service.

Updated 10 June 2023

About the service

Honeybrook House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 10 people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability, and or autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 9 people living at the service.

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

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.

Right Support

Some care records did not contain important information about people’s health care needs and were not always reviewed regularly.

People's care and support was not always provided in a safe, clean and well-maintained environment.

Staff training was not up to date in some areas, this meant staff may not have the up to date knowledge to provide safe care to people.

People’s rooms were personalised in line with their preferences and choices.

Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Care

People were encouraged to have choice and control and staff encouraged independence in daily activities.

Staff knew people well and communicated in ways that met their individual needs. There were positive interactions between staff and people.

Staff worked in partnership with other agencies to promote people’s wellbeing.

Right Culture

There had been changes to the management team at the service. An interim manager and new deputy had recently started in February 2023 and were still developing working relationships with the wider team.

Governance systems in place to monitor the service were not robust or fully implemented. There was a lack of evidence of internal auditing. Checks were not consistently completed to ensure quality or safety concerns were promptly identified and acted upon. Necessary improvements were not always identified or addressed in a timely manner.

We received mixed feedback from relatives, some felt that communication and engagement from the service had reduced recently.

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

Rating at last inspection

The rating for this service was required improvement (published 8 January 2020). The service remains rated requires improvement.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the cleanliness of the home environment, staffing and training. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take 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.