CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at The Haven
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Risks were reviewed, staffing was sufficient, recruitment checks were completed, medicines were managed safely and infection control measures were mostly effective.
- Effective?
- Good
- People's needs were assessed before they started using the home. Staff had relevant training, understood people's health and dietary needs, and supported people to make choices.
- Caring?
- Good
- Staff were kind and respectful. People were involved in decisions about their day, had their privacy respected and were supported to remain as independent as possible.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care plans recorded people's preferences, communication needs and what could upset them. Staff supported activities and relationships, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Well-led?
- Requires improvement
- The manager and staff were open and committed to personalised care, but quality assurance and record keeping were not consistent. Some audit findings had not yet been acted on.
What inspectors found, January 2022
The Haven rated Good overall; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, but the home's leadership and record checks require improvement.
This was the first inspection of the home. It provides short breaks or respite care for up to two people at a time. Inspectors visited on 05 January 2022 and spoke with one person, six staff members, one person after the visit and five relatives.
Inspectors found people were safe, supported by enough staff and given their medicines properly. Staff understood people's health, communication needs and preferences. People were treated kindly, encouraged to be independent and supported to choose how they spent their time.
The main weakness was how the home checked its own quality. Some care records, infection control documents and audits needed improvement. The overall rating was Good, but Well-led was rated Requires Improvement.
Safe staffing
Inspectors found there were enough staff and the home used a consistent team rather than agency workers.
“There were enough staff to support people safely.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Staff treated people as individuals and respected their dignity, privacy, choices and personal preferences.
“People were supported by staff who were kind and caring and treated people as individuals.” from the report
Personalised support
People were able to choose how they spent their time. Staff understood their communication needs and encouraged independence.
“People's support was personalised to their needs and people were in control of how they spent their time at the home.” from the report
Safe medicines practice
Medicine records were completed properly, and staff received medicine training and regular checks of their competence.
“Medicines were managed safely. People's medicine administration records (MARs) were appropriately completed.” from the report
Quality checks needed strengthening
needs fixingThe home's systems did not always identify weaknesses in records, procedures and care plans. This meant some important information was not recorded clearly enough.
“Quality assurance processes at the home required further development.” from the report
Some actions were outstanding
needs fixingAudits had identified a need to improve staff supervision and medicine checks, but these actions had not yet been completed.
“Recent audits had identified some areas to improve, for example the frequency of staff supervision and a more robust medicine audit these had not yet been actioned.” from the report
Infection records
needs fixingInspectors were only somewhat assured that the infection prevention and control policy was up to date. Written laundry procedures also needed more detail.
“Systems to audit infection control had not identified that the written laundry procedures needed to be more detailed to reflect expected staff practice.” from the report
Complaint information
minorA minority of relatives were unsure about the complaints process. The manager planned to send relatives a copy of the procedure.
“Relative surveys recently returned to the service showed that a minority of relatives were unsure about the complaint procedures.” from the report
- 01What has been done to make sure every person's support plan contains clear written guidance about equipment and their support needs?
- 02Have the planned improvements to staff supervision and medicine audits now been completed?
- 03Has the infection prevention and control policy been updated, including the written laundry procedures?
- 04How are staff meetings now being held so that concerns and improvements are discussed formally?
- 05Have all relatives been given clear information about how to make a complaint?
This was the home's first comprehensive inspection and inspectors assessed all five key questions, including infection prevention and control under Safe. This explanation was written from the published report of 29 January 2022 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 The Haven
Each visit the CQC has published, newest first, back to the day the home was registered.
- January 2022Goodcurrent ratingSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- June 2020
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 12 June 2020.
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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At least 100 live-in carers within about an hour of Sandwell
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Most charge £950 to £1,190 a week. 87 can care for a couple. 9 years' experience on average.
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