King Street

Updated 1 July 2021

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

King Street is a ‘care home.’ People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

An unannounced inspection took place on 29 April2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

The inspection activity started on 29 April and was completed on 24 May 2021.

During inspection site visit we spent time talking with five people who used the service and observing their interaction with support staff. This helped us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We also spoke with six people’s relatives by telephone about their experience of the service.

We toured the building and spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, two team leaders and six support staff. We also saw the written records, risk assessments and care plans for one person and medicines records for three people. We looked at personnel and recruitment records for two staff and a range of records in relation to the management of the service, including quality and safety records and audits.

We requested and reviewed further records in relation to the management of the service, which were provided to us remotely. This included quality and safety systems processes, meeting minutes, and staff training and supervision records. We also undertook a remote meeting with the Hesley Group’s Quality and Compliance manager on 24 May 2021

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 1 July 2021

About the service

King Street is a care home providing accommodation for up to 14 people. People live in shared and individual houses and flats. The service specialises in supporting younger adults with a learning disability and autistic spectrum disorder. At the time of the inspection there were eleven people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found.

We found the provider had effective systems in place to safeguard people from the risks associated with abuse. There was effective management of risk. Staff were recruited, trained and deployed appropriately and effectively to ensure people’s needs were met. People were protected from the risk and spread of infection and people’s medicines were managed safely.

There were effective systems of governance, monitoring and review in place, with good evidence of provider oversight to ensure the service was working to the provider’s expected standards. There was evidence that feedback from people who used the service and their relatives had been sought and acted upon in positive ways. There was an emphasis on improving the service, and ensuring it was person centred and service user led. There was evidence of staff working in partnership with other agencies. This helped deliver individualised care and supported people’s access to other healthcare and social care services.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

The setting community based and people were able to access their local community, nearby shops and services.

Right care:

Care and support was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. People were supported in the least restrictive way and education and learning was promoted.

Right culture:

The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using the service were leading confident, inclusive and empowered lives. One person’s relative said, “[Person] is empowered and given opportunities to do as many different things 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 November 2018).

Why we inspected

We received information of concern in relation to two other services run by this provider. These included concerns to people’s safety, staff culture and governance. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks at all of the provider’s ASC locations, to see if these concerns were repeated. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has not changed. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for King Street on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.