Ocknell Park

Ocknell Park is a residential care home] providing personal care to up to 12 people. The service provides support to younger adults who have learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder or who are living with mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection there were 6 people using the service.

Ocknell Park can accommodate 11 people in the main premises and a further person in a self-contained annex in the grounds.

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 were supported by a staff team familiar with their needs and wishes. One to one staff supported individuals according to their care plans and maintained a safe distance keeping people in sight but not crowding them. Staff had completed relevant training and were recruited safely to ensure they were suited to working with people who have learning disabilities. People were supported to take risks to enable their participation in their community or activities they were interested in.

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

We saw caring and appropriate interactions between staff and people and staff used de-escalation techniques to support people who needed additional support. People who had previously been reluctant to participate in community activities had developed interests locally with staff support.

Right Culture

Recent changes to the management team had improved staff morale and had ensured people’s care was person centred and less restrictive. Staff members told us they felt supported by management and the service was one agency staff enjoyed working at.

During our inspection we found some areas that needed improvement. The provider replaced fixtures in the laundry immediately after the inspection and improvements we had asked for in medicines were also completed before we completed our report. The provider was committed to ensuring a safe service for people.

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 8 June 2021).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing numbers, lack of male staff, care plans not being followed, violent incidents and staff concerns at speaking up. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. The overall rating for the service has changed remained good, based on the findings of this inspection.

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 Ocknell Park 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.

Ocknell Park is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care and support for up to 12 adults who have learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder. The accommodation is spread over two floors. There were 10 people living in the home at the time of our inspection.

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

Relatives and staff felt the service was safe. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse.

Relevant recruitment checks were conducted before staff started working at the service to make sure they were of good character and had the necessary skills. Sufficient staff were deployed to meet people’s needs.

Medicines administration records (MAR) confirmed people had received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff received support and one to one sessions or supervision to discuss areas of development. They completed training and felt it supported them in their job role.

Individual and environmental risks relating to people’s health and welfare had been identified and assessed to reduce those risks.

People were provided with sufficient food and drink to meet their dietary needs. People had access to health professionals when required and were supported to maintain their health and well-being.

The provider’s quality assurance system helped the management team implement improvements that would benefit people.

There were appropriate management arrangements in place. We received positive feedback from professionals about the service.

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.

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.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people’s choice, control and

independence

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human

rights

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people

using services 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

The last rating for this service was good (published 16 November 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns raised by staff due to management changes and low morale amongst staff. 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 in relation to the concerns raised. Please see the safe, effective and well led sections of this full report.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions of caring and responsive. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained the same good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

The inspection was unannounced and was carried out on 15 and 21 September 2017 by one inspector.

There was a registered manager in place. However, they were temporarily managing another home managed by the provider. The deputy manager was providing day to day management with ad hoc support of the registered manager and assistant regional director. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the home. 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 home is run.

People’s rights were not always protected because staff had not always followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005 guidance to determine people’s capacity and ensure decisions were made in their best interests. Deprivation of liberty safeguards had been submitted for authorisation when required. Other notifications were submitted to the commission when required.

People and staff told us they felt the home was safe. Staff had received safeguarding training and explained the action they would take to report any concerns. Safe recruitment procedures were in place which ensured only suitable staff were employed. Sufficient staff were deployed to meet people’s needs, including one to one and two to one support in the community.

Individual and environmental risks relating to people’s health and welfare had been identified and assessed to reduce those risks. Regular safety checks were carried out on the environment and equipment to keep people safe. Plans were in place to manage emergencies and personal evacuation plans were in place for people.

People had detailed support plans which provided guidance for staff in how to support them. Some of the information in the care plans needed to be updated, but staff were well informed about people’s needs.

Staff understood the importance of empowering people to make choices and take control of their lives and build confidence, self-esteem and achieve positive outcomes. People were encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities, both at home and in the community, which increased their skills and independence.

Staff communicated with people in a way that met their needs, such as pictures and symbols which helped them to reach informed decisions. Staff were kind and caring, treated people with dignity and respect and ensured their privacy was maintained.

People were provided with sufficient food and drink to meet their specific dietary needs and were supported to prepare their own meals if they wished to do so. People had access to health professionals when required and were supported to maintain their health and well-being.

There was a positive, supportive and open culture within the home. Staff felt supported by the management team and were listened to and involved in the development of the service.

Complaints procedures were available and any concerns were appropriately addressed.