The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told The Disabilities Trust that urgent improvements need to be made at The Maples in Reading, Berkshire.
CQC carried out an unannounced focused inspection of the Maples following concerns received about safe management of medicines. Inspectors decided to undertake a comprehensive inspection to provide assurance that the service is applying the principles of right support, right care, right culture.
The Maples is a care home for up to 15 people aged 18-65 years of age living with a range of complex conditions, including autism with associated sensory and communication difficulties, and complex behavioural needs.
Following the inspection, The Maples has been rated inadequate overall.
The Maples has also been rated inadequate for being safe, effective, responsive and well-led. It was rated requires improvement for being responsive.
Rebecca Bauers, CQC’s head of inspection for adult social care, said:
“We had a number of concerns when we inspected The Maples in July. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities (where appropriate) that most people take for granted.
“However, the location of the service and care of the people living there does not support the delivery of modern, effective care for people with a learning disability or autistic people. A significant amount of work needs to be done to ensure that people using the service are in an environment that is safe, well maintained and meets their physical and sensory needs.
“During the first day of our inspection, we asked the provider for reassurance that they would take urgent action in response to our findings. The Disabilities Trust has recognised that improvements are required and has supplied us with an action plan outlining how it intends to make these. However, we were concerned that there was no clear understanding of risk-based priorities, or a vision which is shared by the whole team to drive improvements.
“We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that the improvements are made in a timely manner.”
Inspectors found the following issues at the service:
- The model of care, and the setting in which the home was located, did not offer people choice, control of their lives and independence. The remote rural location of the campus meant people had to use a car or public transport to access local amenities.
- The care people received was not always person-centred and did not always promote people's dignity, privacy and human rights.
- People's care and support was not provided in a safe, clean, well-equipped, well-furnished and well-maintained environment which met people's sensory and physical needs. People's homes were found to be in a state of disrepair and did not provide a good standard of comfort.
- People were not protected from abuse and poor care. Staff were not always able to recognise or respond appropriately to abuse.
- People did not receive care, support and treatment from trained staff and specialists able to meet their needs and wishes. The Disabilities Trust had not ensured that staff had relevant training, regular supervision and appraisal.
- People did not always have care from staff that protected and respected their privacy and dignity and understood each person's individual needs. People's communication needs were not always met, and information shared in a way that could be understood.
However:
- Where people were supported by staff who knew them well, and understood the support they required, people experienced caring and positive relationships with staff.
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