Rectory House

Updated 16 November 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

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 one inspector.

Service and service type

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

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.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection to check the service’s Covid-19 status.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about the 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 the inspection

During the site visit we observed interactions between staff and people. We spoke with the registered manager, the area operations manager and two members of staff. We reviewed a range of records including three care plans, three staff personnel files and key documents relating to safeguarding, medicines, accidents and incidents and auditing.

After the inspection

After the inspection we spoke to four relatives and friends of people who lived at the service about their experience of the care and support provided to their loved ones. We spoke to two professionals. We continued to review records that we asked to be sent to us. These included policies relating to safeguarding and infection prevention and control and documents concerned with communication with relatives.

Updated 16 November 2021

About the service

Rectory House is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 10 people who lived with physical and learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting eight people.

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

People were safe and protected from harm. The managers at the service had invested time in ensuring that safeguarding policies were in place that they were followed by staff and that all incidents were investigated and reported. People were not able to tell us they felt safe but we observed people and their interactions with staff and saw they were looked after well. Staff understood risk and care plans had risk assessments specific to each person. Staff were recruited safely and were deployed in sufficient numbers to ensure people were supported. Medicines were provided safely and infection prevention and control measures were in place with government guidelines being followed. Accidents and incidents were recorded with any trends being identified and learning shard with all staff.

The provider had made progress with its auditing processes and the way accidents, incidents and safeguarding concerns were recorded and then analysed. Staff were confident to report issues and systems were now in place to ensure nothing was missed. The registered manager had only recently been appointed but demonstrated knowledge about people and their staff. Similarly, progress had been made with improving communication with relatives and loved ones through the introduction of a ‘family survey’, regular opportunities for relatives and people to speak directly with the registered manager and the sending of newsletters. A key worker system of care operated which provided staff with clear roles and enabled positive relationships with people. The service worked well with statutory partners. A professional told us, “The registered manager is well engaged and is always happy to share reports and relevant information.”

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.

Based on our review of safe and well-led key questions the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support

¿ Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and independence. People were encouraged and supported to engage in activities they enjoyed. Staff promoted independence and supported people in these activities.

Right Care

¿ Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. Through the key worker process staff had got to know people well and were able to support people with making choices whilst respecting and protecting their dignity.

Right culture

¿ Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. The registered manager told us that their focus was to enhance life experiences and for people to achieve their goals. People were involved in their care planning and were supported to engage in activities and setting of goals and targets.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 26 July 2018). On 21 January 2021 we carried out a targeted inspection. We looked at our safe domain which was inspected but not rated and our well-led domain which was rated requires improvement.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the reporting of safeguarding incidents, auditing processes relating to accidents and incidents and quality monitoring processes. For example, there were no processes for relatives to provide feedback about the service and poor communication between the service and relatives and loved ones. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has not changed following this inspection and remains good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

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.

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

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.