We carried out a review of the data available to us about Lyncroft Care Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Lyncroft Care Home, you can give feedback on this service.
Lyncroft Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 9 people. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and older people. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service.
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.
Right support: People were safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm. Risks were assessed and mitigated to ensure people were safe. There were enough staff to meet peoples needs and staff had received training to support people with a learning disability. People received their medicines safely and were protected from risks of infection.
Right care: People’s capacity was assessed and they were able to make decisions about their care. The provider learned lessons and took action when things had gone wrong. People were supported to take part in community charity events raising funds towards holidays and days out.
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 culture: The registered manager and staff were motivated about their roles and understood their responsibilities. The provider learned lessons and took action when things had gone wrong. Relatives were able to visit without restriction and were kept informed of incidents. The provider and registered manager were open and transparent. The provider engaged with people and staff involving them with the running of the service.
Based on our review of safe and well led, the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting underpinning principles of “Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture.
For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection:
The last rating for this service was good (published 23 March 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
At our previous inspection in November 2016, we found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 for Regulations 12, 17 and 19 relating to how risks were managed, governance and staff recruitment. We asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the rating to at least ‘good’. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the service was no longer in breach.
Lyncroft 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. Lyncroft accommodates up to nine people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection nine people lived at Lyncroft.
The service is required to have 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post and was present at the inspection.
Enough staff were available to meet people’s needs as well as spend time with people on an individual basis. Staff had been trained in safeguarding and understood how to raise any concerns. Recruitment processes were in place to ensure any new staff would be subject to pre-employment checks on whether they were suitable to work at the service.
People managed their own medicines when appropriate. Arrangements for medicines management followed procedures designed to ensure safe medicines practice.
Processes were in place to ensure risks and people’s health needs were assessed, managed, monitored and responded to. The premises had been adapted in ways to make sure it was suitable for people using the service.
People’s needs and choices were promoted in a way that prevented and reduced the impact of any discrimination. People’s communication needs were assessed and people were supported to communicate effectively with staff. The Accessible Information Standard was being met. The principles of the MCA were followed.
Staff were trained and supported. Staff were caring and showed consideration to how people may feel; staff took steps to understand and know people well. People’s privacy was respected and people were supported to be active in their local communities. People were supported to be independent and were actively involved in decisions about their care. People enjoyed a variety of different interests and hobbies and looked forward to the plans they had made for future events and holidays.
People felt able to raise any issues or concerns; there was a complaints process in place to manage and respond to any complaints should they be made.
The registered manager focussed on providing care that was centred on individuals; they promoted an open and transparent management style. The registered manager had audits and checks in place to provide assurances for the governance of the service. Policies and procedures had been updated to reflect the needs of the service.
There is a requirement for Lyncroft to have a registered manager and a registered manager was in place. 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.
The service is registered to provide residential care for up to nine people who have a learning disability or who are on the autistic spectrum. At the time of our inspection eight people were using the service.
Risks to people’s health and safety, including risks if there was a fire, were not consistently identified. In addition, risks to people’s health conditions and actions to reduce those risks were not always identified in care plans and risk assessments. Guidelines to ensure the safe management of medicines were not always followed. Medicines were not always disposed of when they were out of date and the effectiveness of medicines could not be confirmed as no record had been made of how long they had been open for. Other medicines were seen to be managed and administered safely.
Staff recruitment practices did not record all checks on people’s suitability to work at the service had been completed prior to them starting work. This included records to confirm staff had a satisfactory criminal records check in place before starting work. In addition, not all staff had been asked about their health prior to starting their employment nor had people’s employment history been checked to ensure any gaps had a satisfactory explanation.
Systems were not effective at identifying shortfalls in the quality and safety of services provided. Audits were not comprehensive and did not identify how compliance was measured. Policies and procedures did not ensure the services provided met with the requirements of the current Health and Social Care Act 2008. Records for the management of the service were not always well organised.
The registered manager had not fully applied the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 to people’s care, support and decision making. Staff checked people consented to their day to day care and support, however not all staff had a full understanding of the MCA and DoLS and how it applied to people’s care.
Staff had training on how to safeguard people and people and families told us they felt cared for safely.
People made choices from healthy, nutritious food and drink menus. People received effective care for any health conditions and had access to specialist health professionals when required.
Staff were thoughtful and caring, and supported people to maintain their dignity and independence. People were supported to develop their confidence. People’s views were sought and respected and they were involved in planning their own care.
People received personalised and responsive care as staff understood their needs and preferences. People contributed to their care planning and were asked for their views at regular meetings and by completing questionnaires.
The registered manager was supported by a enthusiastic and caring staff team. Staff were motivated and understood their roles and responsibilities.
We found three breaches 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 end of the full report.