Background to this inspection
Updated
5 April 2022
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
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
Acorn House – Acorn Watford Limited 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
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
The provider had completed a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two visiting relatives and two members of staff, including the registered manager and care staff. Most people living at the service were not able to fully verbalise their views with us. Due to people's needs, we spent time observing people with staff supporting them. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records, medicine records, and further records relating to the quality assurance of the service, including audits and training records.
Updated
5 April 2022
About the service
Acorn House – Acorn Watford Limited is a residential care home that provides care and accommodation for people with physical and learning disabilities. It was registered for the support of up to 10 people. 10 people were living at the service on the day of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
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 the key questions of Safe and Well Led, the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Right support:
• People received personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. People were protected from the risks of harm, abuse or discrimination because staff knew what actions to take if they identified concerns. There were enough staff working to provide the support people needed. Staff understood the risks associated with the people they supported. Risk assessments provided guidance for staff about individual and environmental risks. People received their medicines safely, when they needed them.
Right care:
• Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. People’s individual needs and choices were recognised, and respected. People were supported to have 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.
Right culture:
• The provider and staff had worked hard to develop good leadership. Quality monitoring systems had been embedded and morale was good amongst the staff team. We received positive feedback in relation to the care people received and how the service was run. One relative told us, “This place is amazing and so are the staff. If you could see the difference they have made to [my relative] it’s fantastic. She is living a great life now.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the provider had ensured that appropriate infection control procedures were in place to keep people safe. This included increased cleaning and ensuring adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) were available. Staff completed training in relation to COVID-19. We were assured the provider managed infection prevention and control through the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 16 November 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the care people received and of a possible closed culture. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. 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 reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the key questions of effective, caring and responsive. We therefore did not inspect these. 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 remained as Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
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.