• Care Home
  • Care home

Blackburn (Florence House)

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Florence House, Florence Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 5JP (01254) 59969

Provided and run by:
Heathcotes Care Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 2 June 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Blackburn (Florence House) is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Blackburn (Florence House) is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. We completed an unannounced visit to the service in the evening on the second day.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included, concerns raised to the CQC, investigations, action plans and statutory notifications which the provider is required to send to us by law. We also sought feedback from professionals. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people who used the service and 2 family members. We spoke with 11 staff members. These included 5 support workers, 2 senior support worker, 2 operations directors, the deputy manager and the registered manager. We obtained feedback from 4 professionals.

We looked at 2 people’s care records, associated documents, and medicines related documentation. We also looked at records relating to the operation and management of the service. We undertook a tour of the building, observed medicines management practices and their storage, and completed observations of support provided in the communal areas.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 2 June 2023

About the service

Blackburn (Florence House) is a residential care home providing personal care to 11 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 13 people.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

People's independence was promoted, and staff encouraged people to participate in their care decisions. People's care plans were person centred and reviewed regularly. Risks associated with people's care were assessed to identify how their care could be provided safely and were reflective of the individual’s needs. Staff supported people to take part in meaningful activities and supported people to go on holidays and outings. The service had sufficient staffing to meet peoples’ needs and the same agency workers were used to maintain consistency. The service was clean and rooms were personalised to individual needs. We observed wardrobes needed securing to keep people safe and this was done following the inspection. The environment was being maintained in line with health and safety expectations and some updates to the décor was being planned by registered manager.

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.

Right care

People received supportive care. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs. People had access to health care professionals when they needed them. Medicines were not always recorded accurately; records contained gaps and medication records were not being checked to ensure the information was accurate. Following our inspection, the provider shared additional evidence to demonstrate medication recording practice had been improved and addressed.

Right culture

People received good quality care, support and treatment because staff were trained in areas related to their needs and staff received regular supervision from support leaders. Recent audits for medication were not effective, we made a recommendation about this. Systems were in place to monitor and learn from trends and themes in the service. Staff provided positive feedback on the management team, although some staff felt communication around changes in the service could be improved. Families were happy with the support being provided and described the positive outcomes people had achieved. Positive feedback on partnership working was provided by professionals.

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 14 September 2018).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about medicines, activities, infection control, staff engagement and management. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Blackburn (Florence House) on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have made a recommendation in relation to systems and oversight of the service at this inspection.

Follow up

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