25 June 2019
During a routine inspection
Agnes house is a residential care home providing personal care to two people aged 18 and over at the time of the inspection. The service is registered to support up to five people who may have a learning disability. The service has two buildings which accommodate up to five people, however at the time of the inspection there was nobody residing in one of the buildings.
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them. However, we have found improvements are needed.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The building required maintenance to meet the needs of people living in the service. Training staff received was not always up to date, which meant staffs skills and knowledge was not updated in a timely basis. We found people had enough to eat and drink.
We have made a recommendation about mental capacity assessments. 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; however, the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.
We have made a recommendation around involvement in care planning. People were supported by staff who knew them well and promoted their independence.
Governance systems required strengthening. Audits were completed but did not always identify issues that needed addressing and when problems had been identified, these were not always addressed in a timely way. The culture within the service did not always provide positive outcomes for people. However, the provider did work in partnership with other professionals.
People were protected from the risk of potential abuse. Staff were aware of the different types of abuse and knew how to report their concerns if necessary. People received their medicines safely and were protected from the risk of cross infection as staff wore personal protective equipment. Staff were safely recruited, and people received support in line with their commissioned hours.
People received personalise care that was responsive to their needs and accessed the community regularly. The provider was working in line with the Accessible Information Standards and although nobody was receiving end of life support the provider had systems in place to address this situation should it arise.
The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and remain as independent as possible.
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 23 December 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.