Creda House

About the service

Creda House is a care home without nursing providing personal care for people with learning disabilities and or autism. At the time of our inspection four people were receiving care and support.

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.

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

The provider was not always able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Culture:

The provider's quality monitoring processes were not always effective at highlighting issues found on inspection. People’s medicines were not always managed and stored safely.

The environment did not always reflect people's preferences. For example, some parts of the service were quite bare, with no pictures on the walls, lacked personalisation and areas of the service required maintenance and repair.

Staff knew people well and were responsive to their needs.

People and their relatives were involved in their care. Staff worked with people to achieve their goals.

Right Support:

People were supported to have 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. People were supported to participate in activities and maintain relationships with those who were important to them.

Right Care:

People were supported in a person-centred way. People’s dignity was promoted and staff demonstrated knowledge around people’s individual communication preferences. Relatives provided positive feedback about the care and support provided.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the quality of care being provided and the environment. 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. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full 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.

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 Creda 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 breaches in relation to the management of medicines and quality assurance systems.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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.

Creda House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to five people.

The service was a large home, near to Stafford town centre. The service did not have any signs outside to identify it as a care home and was decorated to feel homely. At the time of the inspection there was one person living at the home.

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

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent. Staff knew the person well and provided support that met their needs and enabled them to take part in activities within the home and community in line with their wishes.

The person was supported with kindness and consideration. Staff knew how to keep the person safe and had received training in safeguarding and how to reduce the risks of harm from occurring.

The person received medications safely and risks to them had been assessed and managed to identify and reduce any known risks. The person was supported to access healthcare services as needed. Routine checks and audits were conducted to ensure that all aspects of the service were being delivered safely as planned.

The person’s rights were protected. They received kind support and assistance to have choice and control over their day to day lives. The person’s preferences were known, and staff provided personalised encouragement and enabled them to do as much as possible for themselves.

Effective monitoring systems were in place that checked if the home was well managed and delivered care that was supportive. This enabled people to have a good quality of life. The person and staff were encouraged to provide feedback about the home and the management team were keen to identify other improvements that could be made to support people and further improve their well-being.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to report events that occurred within the home to the CQC and other external agencies, complying with the regulations.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 12/03/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our timescales for inspection following registration.

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.