The Care Quality Commission
  • Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Archived: Newton House

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

16 London Road, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 3NE (01452) 522381

Provided and run by:
The Riverside Group Limited

All Inspections

08 & 09/09/2015

During a routine inspection

The inspection took place on the 8 and 9 of September 2015 and was unannounced.

Newton House provides supported living for men over the age of 25 years who have mental health and substance misuse problems. The regulated activity is provided from 7am to 9:30 pm each day.

Newton House had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. 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.’

People were not protected against being supported by unsuitable staff because robust recruitment procedures were not applied.

People were protected from the risk of abuse by staff who understood safeguarding procedures.

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who received appropriate training and had the right knowledge and skills to carry out their role. Their medicines were managed in a way that promoted their independence.

Newton House protected people’s rights through an understanding by of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to maintain their health through support in accessing healthcare.

People were treated with kindness, their privacy and dignity was respected and they were supported to maintain their independence.

People received personalised care and support. There were arrangements to respond to any concerns and complaints by people using the service.

The vision and values of the service were clearly communicated to staff. Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of care and safety of the home. As part of this, the views of people using the service were taken into account and responded to.

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

8 May 2013

During a routine inspection

We were not able to speak to any people using the service during this inspection because no one was available to speak to us.

The people who used the service elected one of themselves to stand as involvement officer. The acting manager then told us that training was provided to this person so they can support the other people using the service. We saw evidence of the meetings that took place for people. At our previous inspection in January 2013, we found the provider was not compliant in the way it handled people's money. We checked compliance of this outcome during this inspection. The provider had completed the actions from the action plan to make sure they were now compliant.

The acting manager told us that staffing was to be increased to three care staff per shift. A recruitment plan had been implemented and three new care staff were being recruited at the time of our inspection. We looked at the training records for staff. This showed us that all staff had either received or had places booked on all essential training.

A new feedback book had been introduced to the restaurant and we saw that this had been very widely used for people to give their feedback on the food. This feedback was always discussed at the kitchen meeting and changes made as a result. As an example the chef had introduced a self service breakfast.

8 January 2013

During a routine inspection

Newton House can accommodate 50 people and this is split between domiciliary care, supported living and the use of move on flats. The manager told us that referrals came directly from social services or the hospital. If Newton House is suitable, a person can stay for a few months right through to years.

We reviewed the care files for four people and found them to be accurate and detailed. They all contained personal history and health information. Care assessments had been done and reviewed at regular intervals. We saw evidence of monthly key session records. This showed that a comprehensive discussion had taken place between the person using the service and their keyworker.

We also spoke to two people who used the service. One person told us "I am very comfortable here the staff help me when I need it and they are all very friendly. There is nothing that I don't like". Another person told us "its a great advantage being here, I get the care I need and there staff are always there to help".

29 March 2012

During a routine inspection

We spoke with seven people who live at Newton House. They were all very positive about the quality of the care they receive and spoke of staff being, "helpful" and "always there if you need them".

One person we spoke with when asked what was good about living at Newton House said, "it is the security and feeling safe". Another person when asked the same question said, "they treat us as human beings".

People we spoke with told us that the care provided at Newton House was, "very good" and "they do everything possible for me". They also told us the food was good and that they were always given a choice.