CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at McMorrow House
Rated Outstanding: inspectors found the home performing exceptionally well.
- Safe?
- Good
- People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Risk assessments, safeguarding arrangements, recruitment, medicines management and infection control were found to be effective.
- Effective?
- Good
- People's needs and choices were assessed and reviewed, and staff had training for complex needs. People were supported with healthier lifestyles, healthcare, food, consent and independence.
- Caring?
- Outstanding
- Staff treated people with compassion, dignity and respect. Inspectors found exceptionally strong support during crises and for people's identity, relationships, independence and personal choices.
- Responsive?
- Outstanding
- Care was highly personalised and adapted to people's communication needs, goals and preferences. People were supported to build relationships, take part in activities and achieve ambitions in the community.
- Well-led?
- Good
- The home had an open culture, effective audits and clear leadership. People and staff said the home had improved and was well managed.
What inspectors found, January 2024
Rated Outstanding; inspectors found exceptionally caring and responsive support, with safe, effective and well-led care rated Good.
This was a follow-up inspection on 23 October 2023. One inspector visited, spoke with three people, five staff and two professionals, and reviewed care records, recruitment files, audits, policies and training records.
The inspectors found that people were safe and received effective care. Medicines were managed safely, staff understood people's complex mental health needs, and people were supported to make choices and become more independent.
Caring and responsive support were rated Outstanding. The report describes strong relationships, personalised care and support that helped people reach goals such as education, employment, travel, healthier living and greater independence.
The overall rating changed from Requires Improvement to Outstanding. The home had been in breach of Regulations 12 and 17 at the previous inspection, but the inspectors found enough improvement and said the home was no longer in breach.
Support in a crisis
Staff supported people at serious points of risk, including self-harm and emergency referrals. The report says this sometimes helped avoid hospital admission or detention.
“The home has taken referrals that would have otherwise resulted in hospital admission or even detention of people under the Mental Health Act (MHA).” from the report
Personalised care
Care plans were detailed and shaped around people's individual goals, communication styles and preferences. Staff helped people work towards education, travel, relationships and independent living.
“Care plans reflected this, and we observed positive, meaningful person centred conversations between people and staff.” from the report
Kind and respectful staff
Inspectors saw strong relationships between staff and people. Staff supported privacy, dignity, equality and independence, including during difficult periods.
“We saw meaningful and positive practices when people did hit crisis points.” from the report
Learning and improvement
The home used incidents, feedback and people's views to make changes. Inspectors found an open culture and examples of changes to paperwork, activities, menus and care planning.
“The registered manager encouraged feedback and we saw numerous 'you said, we did' examples such as changes in paperwork, activities, menus, outings, and care planning.” from the report
Safe medicines support
Medicines were stored, administered and recorded safely. People were supported to understand and manage their medicines more independently where possible.
“Medicines were administered, recorded and stored safely.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How would you support my relative if they were at risk of self-harm or in a mental health crisis?
- 02How will my relative be involved in decisions about their medicines and any move towards self-administration?
- 03What individual goals would you help my relative work towards, such as education, employment, relationships or independent living?
- 04How would staff communicate with my relative if they find it difficult to ask directly for help?
- 05How will you involve my relative and our family in reviewing their care plan and raising concerns?
This was a follow-up inspection after earlier breaches, with infection prevention and control also checked under Safe; the report provides ratings for all five key questions. This explanation was written from the published report of 5 January 2024 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, August 2023
McMorrow House is rated Requires Improvement; inspectors found caring, person-centred support but weaknesses in safeguarding and leadership.
This was a focused inspection on 6 and 7 July 2023. Inspectors looked at Safe and Well-led because concerns had been raised about the provider's culture and following data protection rules. They spoke with three people, six staff and reviewed care, medicine, recruitment and management records.
The home had caring and knowledgeable staff. People had person-centred care plans, were supported to make choices and were helped to stay as independent as possible with medicines. People said they felt safe and at home.
However, the provider did not always follow its own safeguarding and risk policies. Inspectors found concerns about directors entering the home unsupervised, people feeling uncomfortable about shouting, poor confidentiality and staff being fearful of raising concerns. The overall rating fell from Good at the previous inspection to Requires Improvement.
Kind and trusting relationships
Staff knew people's needs and had built trusting relationships. People praised the staff and said they felt safe and at home.
“People told us they felt safe and 'at home' since living at McMorrow House.” from the report
Person-centred support
Care plans reflected people's goals and ambitions. People were supported to make choices, try hobbies and reconnect with family members.
“Care plans and risk assessment were person centred and reflected people's personal goals and ambitions.” from the report
Safe medicines support
Medicines were stored and administered safely. People were involved in medicine reviews and supported to manage their own medicines where appropriate.
“Medicines were administered and stored safely.” from the report
Enough trained staff
Inspectors found enough competent staff on duty, with appropriate recruitment checks and induction arrangements.
“There were always enough competent staff on duty.” from the report
Safeguarding policies not followed
seriousThe provider did not consistently follow its own policies after risks had been identified. Directors entered the home unsupervised despite the provider's policy, and people reported feeling uncomfortable and sometimes frightened by shouting.
“The provider failed to ensure that when risk had been identified that action put into effect to mitigate those risk had been followed.” from the report
People and staff feared raising concerns
seriousThe culture was not open. Staff said they were challenged when raising concerns, and people and staff feared repercussions if they disagreed with the provider.
“The culture was not open and inclusive, whilst people and staff raised concerns, they told us they were fearful of repercussions from the provider if they did not agree.” from the report
Privacy and confidentiality failures
needs fixingInspectors found that directors accessed the property and people's private spaces without permission. A staff supervision record had also been accessed inappropriately.
“This meant people's privacy was not respected.” from the report
- 01What has changed to ensure directors and other visitors follow the supervision and DBS policy every time?
- 02How can residents and staff raise safeguarding concerns without fear of repercussions?
- 03What controls now prevent unauthorised access to residents' private spaces?
- 04How is staff information kept confidential, including supervision records?
- 05Can you show us the action plan and explain how you check that the changes are working long term?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led only; the Effective, Caring and Responsive ratings were carried over from the last inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 24 August 2023 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 McMorrow House
3 rated inspections over 5 years: the service has improved, from Good to Outstanding.
- January 2024Outstandingcurrent ratingup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: OutstandingResponsive: OutstandingWell-led: Good
- August 2023Requires improvementdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- May 2019GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- May 2018
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 9 May 2018.
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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