Archived: Reed Pond House

Updated 12 July 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 20 and 21 June 2017 and was unannounced on the first day. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. They did not return a PIR and we took this into account when we made the judgements in this report.

Before the inspection, we also reviewed information we held about the service, such as notifications of incidents affecting the service that the provider is required to tell us about. We also reviewed information about safeguarding and concerns we received from a local authority commissioner.

During the inspection, we spoke with both people who use the service, two support workers, the registered manager (who is also the responsible individual for the provider) and the provider’s finance officer. We looked at records relating to people’s care and support, such as care plans, risk assessments and medicine administration records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service such as staff rotas, service user guides, questionnaires and emergency plans. We looked at information relating to staff such as recruitment documentation, and supervision and training records.

After the inspection we spoke with a professional who works with the people who use the service, for their feedback on the quality and safety of the service people received, and received further information of concern from five other professionals who also work with the people who use the service.

Updated 12 July 2018

Reed Pond House is a care home registered to provide accommodation and support with personal care for up to four people with learning disabilities. The service is provided by Infinity Social Care Limited in a large detached house in Gidea Park, Romford. There were two women living there when we inspected.

This inspection took place on 20 and 21 June 2017, and was unannounced on 20 June. During our last inspection on 22 December 2016, we found that the provider did not meet the fundamental standards of safety and quality relating to capacity and consent, safeguarding people from abuse, staffing, fit and proper persons employed and good governance. We requested an action plan detailing how the provider would address these areas of concern, however they did not provide us with one. During this inspection, we found that although some improvements had been made in some areas, the service was still not meeting the required standards.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

Reed Pond House provided a personalised, person-centred support service to the two women who lived there. They were in control of their day-to-day support and staff supported them to work towards their goals while developing the skills they needed to become more independent.

Staff supported people to maintain good health and eat healthier foods. People received their medicines as prescribed, although we have made a recommendation about ensuring that guidelines for the administration of ‘as required’ medicines be reviewed.

However, systems were not always operated effectively to ensure staff were suitable to work with people in need of support, and staff had not been trained in essential topics relevant to their role. People were not always safeguarded from the risk of abuse as the provider did not operate effective systems to protect people.

The registered manager had not kept their knowledge up to date of the statutory and regulatory environment in which they provided care. This was evident in their lack of understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the impact of these on the people who use the service. The registered manager could not demonstrate they understood the regulations, or appreciated the consequences of providing a service that failed to meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. They did not submit required notifications to the Commission of events that affect the service, or display the rating from their previous inspection.

Records continued to be unavailable or incomplete.

We found several breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, and one of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. You can see what action we have told the provider to take at the back of full version of this report. Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to any concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.