Archived: Bassett House

Bassett House is a residential care home providing accommodation for up to five people who require personal care. The service provides support to people with learning disability or autistic people. At the time of the inspection there were four people living in Bassett House. The accommodation is spread over two floors. There were bedrooms on both levels of the home and all bedrooms had a private bathroom.

Everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People appeared happy living at Bassett House. Relatives told us they felt safe, got on well with the staff, and were given choice as to how they lived their lives.

We found the provider ensured people were supported safely. There were sufficient numbers of suitable, motivated staff, however the provider’s recruitment process did not always meet the requirements. We discussed this with the registered manager who resolved this during the inspection. Assurances had been obtained for relevant jobs and there was supervision and probation in place to mitigate this. We also found that agencies being used were not checking staff employment history in line with the requirements.

We have made a recommendation about getting assurances from employment agencies.

Processes and procedures were in place to store and administer medicines safely. We were assured appropriate infection prevention and control measures were in place to protect people against the risk of COVID-19 and other infections.

The service was well led. The staff team told us they felt supported by the registered manager. People who used the service and staff were involved in how the service was managed. The registered manager had processes in place to monitor and improve the quality of service people received.

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.

Based on our review of safe and well-led the service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The service was maximising people’s choice, control and independence. The care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. The values and attitudes of the registered manager and staff ensured that people using the service lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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 good (published 5 September 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted due to concerns received about the provider following inspections of their other locations. We received concerns in relation to staffing, medicines, safeguarding incidents and safe environment.

As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this report.

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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

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 has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Follow up

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

There was a registered manager at the home. 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 provider notified CQC about significant events that happened in the care home and had acted in line with regulatory requirements. People’s relatives and staff told us that the registered manager was effective in their role and had a positive relationship with people living at the service.

People’s relatives told us that Bassett House provided individualised care for their family members. Staff used a range of different communication aids and strategies that were bespoke to people, which encouraged them to make choices about their everyday lives and activities, and communicate their needs. The service had a focus on working with people to develop their independent skills. This was both domestically and socially and was planned in conjunction with people and their families.

People’s care plans were detailed and contained information which helped staff to keep people safe. People’s privacy and dignity were clearly considered and documented and staff understood the steps required to follow this guidance. There were policies and procedures in place to ensure that people’s rights and freedoms were respected and staff understood the need to gain consent before providing care.

There were sufficient numbers of staff in place to meet people’s needs. Staffing was a mixture between permanent and agency staff. The service was in the process of recruiting more permanent staff at the time of inspection. Both permanent and agency staff had undergone robust recruitment checks to help ensure they were appropriately skilled and of good character.

Staff received a training programme which was suitable for their role. They also received a structured induction when they started working with people, which helped them understand people and their role. The registered manager monitored staff’s working practice and behaviours through observation, supervision and team meetings. People’s families spoke positively about the standard of care provided by staff to their relatives.

There were systems in place to manage people’s medicines including detailed guidance for staff to follow if people required medicines for anxiety. This led to a reduction in the need for people to take these medicines. The provider had a process to analyse the causes of incidents which occurred, this had resulted in a reduction of anxiety related incidents for some people living at the home.

The registered manager was responsive in putting in place processes to improve their system to monitor the temperature of medicines storage areas, after it was identified during inspection that improvements could be made.

There were quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The registered manager and senior managers had oversight of these audits and areas where the service needed further development were formulated into an action plan and shared with staff.

People had access to healthcare services when required. Staff had worked with people creatively to ensure they were prepared for health appointments, which reduced their anxieties around these events. People were given choices around their diet and were encouraged to participate in the selection and preparation of their meals.

People followed a range of activities which were in line with their interest. Staff worked with people and their families to help ensure that activities were suitable and enjoyable. The registered manager regularly met with people and families to review people’s needs and ask for feedback about the service. There was also a complaints policy in place.