• Care Home
  • Care home

Compton House

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Otterbourne Road, Compton, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 2BB (020) 3195 3565

Provided and run by:
Community Homes of Intensive Care and Education Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 24 November 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors, an assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Compton 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. Compton 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 spent time with nine people; getting their feedback and observing the quality of care and support they received. This helped us to understand the experiences of people who we were unable to communicate with effectively. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, area regional director, deputy manager and support workers, including agency staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included support planning documentation for three people and multiple medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including risk assessments, quality assurance records, training data and policies and procedures.

Overall inspection

Requires improvement

Updated 24 November 2022

About the service

Compton House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 11 people. The service provides support to adults with learning disabilities, autism and other multiple needs. There is a main house which accommodates eight people and three self-contained annexes which accommodates three people. At the time of our inspection there were 11 people using the service.

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

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. 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. The provider was not able to demonstrate how they were fully meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support: People were not always supported to use their preferred communication methods consistently. We observed people mostly being supported to make choices and be listened to. However, there were areas where this could be improved. People were offered regular opportunities to share feedback with the service. However, the forms used were generic and did not appear to meet the needs of everyone living at Compton House. The registered manager had developed close working relationships which supported positive outcomes for people.

People were mostly 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. The provider was working with the staff team and people to promote consistent person-centred care and positive risk taking.

Right Care: People’s privacy and dignity was supported, and the provider’s policies and processes supported this. People’s care plans and risk assessments had started to be updated since the last inspection and they were more detailed, and person centred. However, there were occasions when the guidance in place wasn’t being followed.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders was passionate about supporting people using services to lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Training was being utilised to develop best practice and approaches within the service. However, more needed to be done to ensure people were fully involved in shaping their support. People were being supported to identify personal goals to increase their independence. Whilst this was a work in progress, people had successfully achieved some of their goals which had resulted in a positive outcome for them. Relatives were positive about the registered manager and the changes they had made so far to the service.

Safe recruitment processes were not always followed. We had received concerns relating to unsafe staffing levels, especially at weekends. We inspected the service out of hours unannounced. During the inspection we observed safe staffing levels and staff appeared unhurried and available to meet people’s support needs.

People confirmed they were happy living at the service and relatives told us they felt people were safe. There were appropriate policies and systems in place to protect people from abuse. Staff confirmed they were confident appropriate action would be taken if they had any concerns.

We found the service was working within the principles of the MCA and if needed, appropriate legal authorisations were in place to deprive a person of their liberty.

Quality assurance processes were not always effective. Some of the concerns identified during the inspection had not been picked up by the provider. Whilst the registered manager was responsive and took action to address concerns when highlighted, we were concerned the provider's systems and processes were not sufficiently robust. The provider had not always sufficiently investigated incidents to prevent reoccurrences. The provider had not ensured records relating to the management of the home had always been completed or were accurate. We identified concerns in relation to poor record keeping.

The registered manager and provider responded immediately during and after the inspection. The registered manager developed an action plan with realistic timescales to address the shortfalls identified.

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 26 April 2022). 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 the provider remained in breach of regulations. The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

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.

We received concerns in relation to staffing levels and management oversight. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service remains requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified a breach in relation to recruitment of staff and a continued breach in relation to governance at this inspection.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.