Archived: Claremont Villas

Updated 25 January 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in a supported living setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. Claremont Villas is also a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The provider and the registered manager were the same person at Claremont Villas, we have referred to them as the ‘responsible person’ throughout this report.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the responsible person would be available to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key details about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two members of staff and the responsible person. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff employment files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We requested policies and procedures; however, these were not provided.

Updated 25 January 2020

About the service

Claremont Villas is a supported living and domiciliary care service supporting people with learning disabilities and autism. At the time of our inspection seven people were receiving support from the service. Four people lived in a house of multi-occupation. The registered manager also lived in this house. A further three people received support from Claremont Villas in their own homes in the community.

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

The service was not safe. Risks associated with people’s care and support, such as falls, were not managed safely. Poor management of environmental risks, such as fire and food hygiene, placed people at risk of harm. Opportunities to learn from adverse incidents had been missed. Safe recruitment procedures had not been followed, this meant there was a risk people may be supported by unsuitable staff. There were not enough staff to ensure people’s safety. Medicines were not managed or stored safely, this increased the risk of error or misuse. There was a risk people may not be protected from abuse. A lack of staff training and absence of any formal systems in relation to safeguarding meant there was a risk allegations of abuse may not be identified or addressed.

People were supported by staff who did not have the training or competency to ensure safe support. People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. People were at risk of inconsistent and unsafe care as their needs were not appropriately assessed or planned for and advice had not always been sought from expert health professionals.

People’s right to privacy was not always respected. People were not always supported to express their views. People gave mixed feedback about the approach of staff. Allegations had been made that staff were not kind or caring and this remained under investigation.

There was a risk people may receive support that did not meet their needs. People were not always provided with information in a way they could understand. There was a risk that people’s complaints and concerns may not be addressed. People were provided with support to follow their interests and take part in the local community and supported to keep in touch with family and friends.

The service was not well led. The provider did not have the skills or competency to run Claremont Villas safely. People's health and safety was at risk due to a failure to identify and address issues and poor practices. Information had not always been shared in an open and honest way with people, their families or other agencies.

Following our inspection, due to the level of risk, the local authority made arrangements for people to receive support from alternative care providers.

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 on 21 December 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to safety, staff recruitment, staffing levels, staff training, dignity and respect and leadership and governance. We took urgent action to impose conditions upon the providers registration to ensure people's safety. We cancelled the providers registration which meant they were not longer able to provide a regulated services to people.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions of the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it. And it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.