Archived: The Coppice

Updated 24 September 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.’

The inspection took place on 18 June 2015 and was unannounced. The service was last inspected in November 2014. During that inspection the provider said that she aimed to run the service as a small family home and as such, considered the regulations did not fully apply to the service. As a result, a number of breaches in many of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated activities) Regulations 2010 were found.

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors. We reviewed information we held about the service before the inspection. Prior to this inspection we had sent the provider a ‘Provider Information Return’ (PIR) form. This form enables the provider to submit in advance information about their service to inform the inspection. The provider had not returned this form.

We met and spoke with both of the people who used the service. We spoke with the provider and the only member of staff who works at the home on a voluntary basis. We observed how people were cared for and reviewed people’s care records. We inspected the premises and looked at documentation in relation to the management of the service.

Updated 24 September 2015

The inspection took place on 18 June 2015 and was unannounced. The service was last inspected in November 2014. During that inspection the provider said that she aimed to run the service as a small family home and as such, considered the regulations did not fully apply to the service. As a result, a number of breaches in many of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated activities) Regulations 2010 were found.

The service provides residential care for up to three older people. People are cared for in the provider’s home, which is a bungalow and there is an adjoining annexe flat which can provide accommodation for one person. At the time of our visit the annexe was not occupied.

The registered provider manages the service. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The provider told us that the home had been sold and that the two people living there would be moving to other care providers. The provider told us that they had not taken action to meet with any of the breaches identified during our last inspection other than obtaining a Disclosure and Barring Scheme (DBS) disclosure for her husband who also lives on the premises and therefore comes into contact with the people who live there.

People were not safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm and there were no comprehensive individual risk assessments in place to ensure people’s safety. Accidents were not reported appropriately.

We did not see that the provider demonstrated kindness or compassion when providing care to people and there was no evidence of caring relationships.

People did not receive effective care and their quality of life was compromised because their individual needs, including social and leisure needs were not assessed or planned for. We did not find evidence to support that the provider sought people’s consent for the care and support they received and there was no evidence people contributed to decisions about their care.

Staffing levels were not sufficient to manage people’s needs. For example, two physically dependant people needed two staff to assist them safely, however, we saw only the provider on duty and evidence of times when only the volunteer staff member was available to people who used the service. Daily routines of people who used the service were subject to staff availability.

There were no systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the provision. We found the provider did not demonstrate an understanding of their responsibilities as a registered care provider and had failed to take action to meet with the requirements for improvement set at the last inspection.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in 'Special measures'.

The service will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.

The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.