Archived: Acrefield House

Updated 20 July 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. 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.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by two adult social care inspectors.

Service and service type

Acrefield 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.

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

We reviewed 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 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 the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and support workers. We also spoke with two health and social care professionals involved with the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 20 July 2019

About the service

Acrefield House is a residential care home providing support and personal care for up to 12 people in one adapted building; at the time of our inspection seven people were living in the home.

At our previous inspection in December 2018 the service was in breach of Regulation 9 and 17. This was because the provider had not ensured that people’s care and support always met their needs and reflected their preferences; and the provider had not taken adequate steps to improve the safety and quality of the service provided for people. At this inspection we found enough improvement had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation.

At this inspection we observed a cultural shift in how staff interacted with people. People were treated with dignity and respect and we observed many positive and empowering interactions between staff members and people supported; we also saw that staff paid attention to detail and were very thoughtful.

There was a distinct improvement in how people were consulted with and how they were supported to make decisions. People were now supported to make decisions in every aspect of their day to day lives and support. Their views and decisions were listened to and respected. People were supported to set goals for the future, to express themselves and start planning towards aspirations that they had for themselves

The service ensured people were kept safe by staff having safeguarding training. Staff felt empowered to speak up if they had any concerns that a person was at risk of abuse and the provider ensuring appropriate policies were in place. The service was open and honest in raising appropriate safeguarding alerts.

The service was provided 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.

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 them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent. People were participating as active members of their community and had many more life enriching experiences. The activities people took part in were tailored to people’s interests and tastes; they did not follow a set plan or schedule which enabled people to have maximum choice and control.

The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 12 people; at the time of our inspection seven people were using the service. If the home became full this would be larger than current best practice guidance. However, the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There was deliberately little to differentiate the building as a care home other than five large industrial bins that were at the font of the home; we spoke with the registered manager about how this could be improved.

The registered manager and deputy manager were knowledgeable about people and spoke with a passion about people receiving a high standard of care and support. Staff members described the registered manager as very supportive, approachable and proactive. There was a service improvement action plan and, the registered manager demonstrated that most of the actions set were completed or were in progress.

Staff at Acrefield House had worked in partnership with the local authority, people’s families and health and social care professionals to help improve the lives of a number of people since our previous inspection

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 3 December 2018) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since December 2018. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.