Rockmount Northwest

Updated 1 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 20 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours of notice of the inspection.

Updated 1 February 2022

We previously inspected this service in October 2017. This was because we had received notification of a serious incident which raised concerns regarding the assessment and management of risk in relation to people's mental health needs. At that inspection we looked at two of our questions; ‘Is this service safe and is the service well led?’ Our findings in October 2017 demonstrated there was a continued breach of the regulation in respect of the systems for monitoring the quality and safety of the service. Following the last inspection we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do to improve the service to at least good and by when.

The provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breach. During this inspection we found that significant work had been carried out to improve the governance and quality assurance systems in the home.

The service had a registered manager 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.

Rockmount Northwest is a residential care home for people with a mental health diagnosis. The service provides recovery and rehabilitation support for up to 20 adults with complex mental health needs, who may also have a learning disability. At the time of this inspection, there were 19 people living in the home.

Rockmount Northwest is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The home is situated in Rishton, near the towns of Blackburn and Accrington and is in close proximity to public transport links which gives easy access to either town by bus or train.

During this inspection, we found improvements had been made to quality assurance and auditing processes to help the provider and the registered manager to effectively identify and respond to matters needing attention. The systems to obtain the views of staff had been improved. People felt their views and choices were listened to and they were kept up to date with any changes. However, we noted that further improvements were required to ensure the systems were formalised to enable accountability and to ensure audits included records of care.

We found improvements were required to the knowledge and understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People's consent to various aspects of their care was considered and where required DoLS authorisations had been sought from the local authority. The registered manager had made appropriate referral to seek authorisations to restrict some people for their safety. However, the systems for assessing and recording mental capacity assessments were not in place.

We have made a recommendation about the assessing and recording of mental capacity assessments.

People were happy with the care and support they received and made positive comments about the staff. They told us they felt safe and happy in the home and staff were caring. People were comfortable in the company of staff and it was clear they had developed positive trusting relationships with them. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse.

The information in people's care plans was sufficiently detailed to ensure they were at the centre of their care. People's care and support was kept under review. Risks to people's health and safety had been identified, assessed and managed safely. Relevant health and social care professionals provided advice and support when people's needs changed.

The home was a clean, safe and comfortable for people to live in.

A safe and robust recruitment procedure was followed to ensure new staff were suitable to care for vulnerable people. Arrangements were in place to make sure staff were trained and competent. People considered there were enough suitably skilled staff to support them when they needed any help. Staffing levels were monitored to ensure sufficient staff were available.

People's medicines were managed in a safe manner. People had their medicines when they needed them. Staff administering medicines had received training and supervision to do this safely. We noted that some improvements were required to ensure the medicines administration practices were person centred to promote privacy and dignity.

People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff respected people's diversity and promoted people's right to be free from discrimination.

There was a strong drive to facilitate community and social inclusion. People had access to a range of appropriate activities both inside the house and in the local community.

People's nutritional needs were monitored and reviewed. People were given a choice of meals and staff knew their likes and dislikes. People were promoted to maintain and develop their independence. Staff supported them to undertake some of their daily living activities and to share responsibility for cleaning their own personal bedrooms and communal areas.

People who used the service knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaint’s procedure was available and people said they were encouraged to raise concerns and were confident they would be listened to.