Station House

Station House is a residential care home providing personal to up to 6 people in 1 adapted building. The service provides support to people under the age of 65 with learning disabilities, sensory impairments and mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service.

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 received care in a relaxed, homely environment and were supported to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their interests and tastes. Staff worked with people to identify their hopes, dreams and choices, with both short and long term goals. Staff supported people to be active members of their community and take part in activities they enjoyed.

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:

People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their assessed need. People received support from staff who knew them well and were friendly and caring. Staff had received training in safeguarding and understood how to report concerns and protect people from harm. Care plans contained detailed information about people’s needs and reflected people’s individual needs and characteristics. Risks to people were assessed and information shared with staff to ensure people received care that promoted positive risk taking.

Right Culture:

People received support from a consistent staff team who knew them well and understood their interests, likes and dislikes. People knew the management team, and the manager was regularly involved in providing care to people. Staff worked together with other professionals to help people achieve their health, well-being and personal goals. The manager welcomed feedback and was proactive in identifying areas where improvements could be made.

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.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 16 February 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 23 November 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, good governance, staffing and fit and proper persons employed.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last comprehensive inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Station House 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.

Station House is a residential care home providing personal care to people living with autism or a learning disability. The service can support up to six people and six people were living there at the time of inspection.

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

People were not consistently supported by safely recruited staff who had adequate training. People with diabetes were not always supported in a safe way to receive their medicines. People were supported by staff who were knowledgeable about the different types of abuse but were not always clear on how to report any concerns to the local authority. Quality assurance tools were not always in place or used effectively to ensure improvements were identified and action was taken to improve people's experience of care.

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.

The service was not able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture as there were not always sufficient staff to support people flexibly with their care.

People were supported by staff that wore personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and aprons in line with government guidance to reduce the risk of transmission. People were supported to have regular visitors within the home. People appeared comfortable with the staff and relatives told us staff were caring. People had comprehensive care plans and risk assessments in place to support staff to meet their needs. Relatives felt able to communicate with the new manager and felt action would be taken in relation to any concerns raised.

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 04 June 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to people’s safe care and treatment, staffing and oversight at the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. 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 changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Station House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to people’s safe care and treatment, staffing, recruitment and the leadership of the service.

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 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.

Station House is a residential care home providing personal care to people living with autism or a learning disability. The service can support up to six people and six people were living there at the time of inspection.

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

People were supported by staff who understood how to keep them safe. People’s risks were assessed, and staff understood how to manage risk. People’s medicines were administered safely. Staff wore Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in line with current guidance and promoted good Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice.

People’s needs, and choices were assessed, and care was delivered in line with their care plans. People were supported by staff who had adequate training and the skills to meet their needs. People were supported to choose their own meals and were encouraged to maintain a balanced diet. Staff worked alongside health professionals to deliver effective care to people.

People were supported by kind and caring staff who respected them and promoted their dignity. People were supported by staff who promoted their independence.

People were involved in their own care planning and were encouraged to make choices for themselves. People were supported by staff who understood their communication and sensory needs. People were encouraged to engage in activities of their choice. A complaints policy was in place and was followed.

People were supported by a provider that was proactive in empowering people to achieve optimum outcomes. Staff felt supported by the management team. Effective audits were in place to check the quality of the care provision and action was taken to address any concerns.

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.

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.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People were provided with the right support that enabled them to make choices and promoted their independence. People received the right care that was provided in a person centred way and promoted their dignity. The service provided the right culture for people in an environment where they were included and empowered by management and care staff.

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 23/06/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels and the home’s ability to manage people’s complex needs. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine these risks.

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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe section of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Station House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

We found the following examples of good practice.

• The provider was in the process of implementing a visiting system with the use of ‘pods’ to ensure people and relatives were able to meet safely. There was a visiting policy in place which contained details of the booking system and procedures to sanitise the area between visits.

• When visits had been restricted other methods were used to ensure people continued to have contact with their loved ones such as, video calls and window visits.

• The environment was well maintained and clean. Additional cleaning had been implemented to lower the risk of cross transmission.

• Staff were supported by the registered manager and provider during periods of anxiety to monitor their wellbeing and signpost to services where needed.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.