CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at 112-114 Carlton Road
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, December 2018
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with some bathroom and garden work still needed.
This was a comprehensive, announced inspection on 20 November 2018. One inspector met three of the four people living in the home, observed care, spoke with staff and relatives, and checked care, medicine, recruitment and quality records.
The home was rated Good overall and Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines handling, relevant staff training, close health monitoring and support with healthcare appointments.
People were described as being treated kindly and respectfully. Staff supported choice, independence, communication, family contact and activities. The home had improved its leadership since an earlier Requires Improvement rating for Well-led, although some repairs and tidying were still planned.
Enough staff
Staffing allowed people to receive one-to-one support and take part in appointments and community activities without staff appearing rushed.
“We saw that there were sufficient staff to keep people safe and to support people's needs.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors saw warm relationships between staff and people, supported by a consistent team who knew people well.
“People were cared for by staff who were kind and respectful.” from the report
Promoting independence
Staff worked towards individual goals and recorded progress in daily living skills, including personal care.
“People's independence was promoted and respected where possible.” from the report
Personalised support
Care plans described people's preferred routines and communication needs. Easy-read information, pictures and symbols helped people make choices.
“Care files contained detailed explanations of people's preferred routines which were written from the person's point of view.” from the report
Improved leadership
The provider was regularly involved, staff and relatives were positive about the management, and regular audits were used to identify and address gaps.
“Improvements had been made and the service is now consistently well-led.” from the report
Bathroom and garden work
needs fixingInspectors identified repairs to bathroom tiling and painting, and said the garden needed tidying. Work was planned for the following weeks.
“Some work was needed to improve both of the bathrooms, such as repairs to tiling and painting and to tidy up the garden area.” from the report
- 01Have the planned bathroom repairs and garden tidying been completed?
- 02How will you support my relative to communicate choices and understand information?
- 03What individual goals will my relative have for developing independence, and how will progress be recorded?
- 04How will you support my relative to maintain contact with family and take part in activities they enjoy?
- 05How do you keep medicines, risk assessments and care plans under review?
This was a comprehensive inspection covering all five key questions, including the premises and care provided, and the overall rating remained Good. This explanation was written from the published report of 13 December 2018 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
What inspectors found, September 2016
Rated Good overall, but inspectors found weaknesses in quality checks, records and some safety arrangements, so well-led was Requires Improvement.
The inspection was unannounced and took place on 19 August 2016. One inspector observed care, spoke with staff, relatives and a professional, and checked records, complaints, surveys and audits.
The home supported four people with learning disabilities. Inspectors found people were safe, received their medicines, had their health and dietary needs met, and were supported by trained staff. Relatives spoke positively about the care and staff's kindness.
Inspectors found that the home was not consistently well-led. Quality checks did not always find problems or make sure they were fixed. Some records were inaccurate or incomplete, a safeguarding notification was sent almost four months late, and some environmental safety issues had not been addressed.
The overall rating was Good. Safe, Effective, Caring and Responsive were all rated Good. Well-led was rated Requires Improvement.
Stable staff team
People were supported by a long-standing staff team. Relatives said this stability was important and that staff knew people's needs well.
“Stability of staff is very important for people with autism and I am very impressed with the staff team that has had no changes since [person] went to live there.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors saw warm interactions. Relatives said people were happy and well cared for, and staff supported privacy, dignity and independence.
“Staff responses to people were warm and caring.” from the report
Health and medicines support
Staff supported people to take prescribed medicines and access health professionals. Records showed that health checks and specialist advice were followed where needed.
“Records we looked at showed that people had access to medical professionals such as the GP, learning disability nurse, speech and language therapist, chiropodist and dentist as required.” from the report
Support for choices
Staff adapted activities when circumstances changed and supported people to make choices and take part in daily tasks.
“They decided to go bowling instead. This showed that the service was flexible to meet the needs of people.” from the report
Late safeguarding notification
seriousA safeguarding allegation was reported to the CQC almost four months after the incident. The report says allegations should have been reported without delay.
“There had been one incident in the service and although we had received a notification from the registered provider about the allegation it was almost four months after the incident when we received it.” from the report
Unsafe bedroom door locks
seriousSome locks allowed bedroom doors to be locked from outside, meaning occupants could not open them. Staff had not identified this and there was no plan to correct it.
“We saw that the locks had been fitted wrongly so that the bedroom doors could be locked from the outside and the occupants could not open the door.” from the report
Environmental safety issues
seriousFrayed carpets could cause trips, and broken garden fencing created risks of injury and unwanted access. These problems had not been identified properly through checks.
“We also saw that the fencing around the garden was broken so that people living in the home would be able to get into other people's gardens leaving them at a potential risk of injury and strangers could access their home too.” from the report
Inaccurate records
needs fixingSome care and risk records were not detailed or consistent. An accident record gave the wrong date and had not been completed by the person who first knew about the fall.
“Records were not always detailed and consistent.” from the report
Activities not always followed through
needs fixingThe home offered activities, but it did not review how well they supported people's interests and development. One person's wish to go swimming had not been acted on in good time.
“One person who told us they liked to go swimming but staff told us they had not been swimming and they needed to take some actions to facilitate this but these actions had not been taken in a timely manner to meet the person's needs.” from the report
- 01Have the bedroom door locks been refitted so that people cannot be locked in from outside?
- 02What has been done to repair the frayed carpets and broken garden fencing?
- 03How do you now make sure safeguarding allegations are reported to the CQC without delay?
- 04How are accidents recorded and checked for accuracy?
- 05How do you record whether activities meet each person's interests and support their development, including swimming?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five CQC questions and the overall quality of the home. This explanation was written from the published report of 29 September 2016 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of 112-114 Carlton Road
2 rated inspections over 2 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- December 2018Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- September 2016GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- September 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- December 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2010
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 18 November 2010.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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