Archived: Priory Egerton Road

Priory Egerton Road is registered to provide accommodation for up to 11 adults living with an acquired brain injury and provides a rehabilitation service to those living there. Priory Egerton Road promotes independent living and aim to rehabilitate people into the community.

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

People received safe care and support by staff trained to recognise signs of abuse or risk and understood what to do to safely support people. People had care plans and risk assessments which meant people’s safety and well-being was promoted and protected. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Medicines were given safely to people by appropriately trained staff, who had been assessed as competent. The home was clean, well-maintained, and comfortable. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. Safe recruitment practices had been followed before staff started working at the service. Accidents and incidents were recorded, and lessons learnt from complaints and incidents were discussed at team meetings.

A range of quality audits were conducted regularly to ensure service quality was maintained and improvements made where needed. The home had an effective management structure which provided good leadership for staff and communicated effectively with people, relatives, and professionals. Families, visitors, and staff were positive about the management and care team, saying they were approachable and welcoming. Staff were positive about their roles and felt valued for the work they did.

The views of people who lived at the home, their relatives and staff were encouraged and acted upon by the management team. People and their relatives felt able to raise any concerns they had and were confident these would receive an appropriate response. People also had several forums where they could express their views, such as one to one meeting with their key worker, resident meetings, surveys and at their local Headway support group.

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 23 June 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and the age of the last rating.

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.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Priory Egerton Road 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; both were looked at during this inspection. Priory Egerton Road is registered to provide accommodation for up to 11 adults living with an acquired brain injury and provides a rehabilitation service to those living there. Nine people were living there at the time of inspection.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People told us that they liked the staff that supported them, they felt listened to and felt safe and settled where they lived. Staff had an excellent understanding of people’s individual needs: they provided person centred care that placed people at the heart of the service provided. People worked with staff to develop personalised plans of the care and support they needed. Staff were kind and caring and people told us staff respected their dignity and privacy.

New staff received an appropriate induction into their role that included shadowing experienced staff and completion training. All staff undertook a programme of regular mandatory and specialist training. Staff were enabled to take further qualifications as part of their development. Staff felt supported they had opportunities to discuss their training and development needs through regular supervision and annual appraisal.

There were enough staff to safely support people to learn independent living skills and to help them to lead the life they wished. There was a positive approach to risk taking to enable people to develop their independence. Risks people might experience were assessed and measures implemented to reduce the likelihood of harm occurring to them. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Medicines were managed well so that people receive them safely. Staff understood the systems in place for managing safeguarding matters and behaviours that can be challenging to others. Peoples health needs were supported and monitored to ensure they remain well and access health professionals as and when they need to. People were supported to eat healthily and were consulted about what they eat. Advice was sought when needed from health professionals regarding people’s diet and weight.

The premises were well maintained. People and staff worked together to ensure the service was clean and tidy. Regular tests and checks of fire safety equipment and annual servicing of gas and electrical installations were made. Safe systems are in place for the management of people’s medicines and administering staff were trained to do so.

People were encouraged to speak up and they had several forums where they could express their views; such as one to one meetings with their key worker, resident meetings, surveys and at their local Headway support group. People felt able to raise concerns if they had them and found staff approachable. People and relatives knew what to do if they were unhappy and were confident of taking action around this.

People were supported to develop a full and active lifestyle that included opportunities for skills development but also encouragement to pursue interests and hobbies and make use of community activities that enabled them to socialise and integrate into the community they lived in. Staff enabled and encouraged people to experience holidays and supported them with destinations of their choice, or attendance at special family events to ensure they remained very much part of the family group.

There was a clear management structure. Staff felt valued and listened to. The registered manager was a visible presence and knew people well. A range of quality audits were conducted regularly to ensure service quality was maintained and improvements made where needed.

Further information is in the detailed findings below

We found by observation and looking at care plans that before people received any care or treatment they were asked for their consent and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes.

We examined three care plans and observed how staff supported people living in the home. We found that people's care was planned and delivered in a way that protected them from unlawful discrimination.

We examined the home's policy, practice and records in relation to medication. We found that staff were properly trained, medication was stored appropriately and administered correctly. We saw that record keeping in relation to medication was accurate and up to date.

We examined four staff files and found that the provider used effective recruitment and selection processes to ensure the care and safety of people living at the home. All staff were subject to appropriate checks before they began working at the home.

We looked at the complaints procedure and found that the service responded appropriately in line with their complaint policy and procedures.

We found that people were involved in decisions about their life. People were involved in the decisions about the home. Care plans and risk assessments were in place and reflected people's needs and aspirations. The home was clean and comfortable and the food provided was varied and nutritious.

We saw that quality assurance systems were in place and were audited regularly to ensure that the service was run in the best interests of the people who used the service.