Archived: Phoenix House

Updated 10 October 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Inspection team: One inspector undertook this inspection.

Service and service type: Phoenix House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Notice of inspection: This was an unannounced inspection.

What we did;

Before inspection:

¿ Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public and local authorities. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During inspection:

¿ We spoke with two people and spent time in the communal areas to understand how people spent their day. We spoke with two relative’s and two healthcare professionals. We spoke with three support workers, the administrator, the deputy manager, the registered manager and the provider.

¿ We looked at aspects of three people’s care records and medicine records. We looked at nutritional information, incidents and accidents records, residents and relatives’ meetings, staff meeting minutes and the complaints procedures.

¿ After the first day of inspection we wrote to the provider to understand what actions they were putting in place to reduce the risk of harm to a person. The provider responded to our letter and we visited the home to follow up on what they had told us.

After the inspection

¿ We spoke with the local authority to seek an update regarding the safeguarding we raised.

Updated 10 October 2019

About the service: Phoenix House is service that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 11 people. At the time of our inspection, 11 adults were living in the home, some of whom may have a learning disability.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

There was a registered manager at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

The registered manager did not have a clear overview of the service to ensure the service was running safely and effectively.

People's known risks were not always consistently managed. People's medicines were not always managed safely. Staff had a good understanding of how they protected people from harm and recognised different types of abuse and how to report it. There were enough staff on shifts to keep people safe and meet their needs. Safe practice was carried out to reduce the risk of infection.

People’s care was assessed and reviewed with relatives, advocates and healthcare professionals. People were supported to have a healthy balanced diet and had food they enjoyed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Staff treated people as individuals and respected the choices they made. People’s care was delivered in line with their preferences. The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on their individual preferences. People told us they did things they enjoyed. People had access to information about how to raise a complaint.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection in December 2018 the service was rated Requires Improvement. (Report published 16 January 2019)

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

Enforcement: We have identified a continued breach in relation to governance and leadership at this inspection.

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

Follow up: We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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