SENSE - 20-32 Horton Street

Updated 31 January 2019

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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This unannounced inspection took place on the 09 January 2019. The inspection team consisted of one inspector. This inspection was to check if the provider had made improvements following our last inspection and met the legal requirements.

When planning our inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service, this included information received from the provider about deaths, accidents/ incidents and safeguarding alerts which they are required to send us by law. We also contacted local authorities who provide funding for people to ask them for information about the service

During our inspection visit, we spent time with three people who lived at the home. People

living at the home had complex care needs and were unable to tell us about the service they received. Therefore, we used a tool called the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with five staff, the deputy manager and registered manager. We looked at records relating to the management of the service including care plans for two people, the incident and accident records, one staff recruitment records, Medicine Administration Records (MAR). We also looked at records which supported the provider to monitor the quality, management and safety of the service including health and safety audits and accidents and incidents records.

Updated 31 January 2019

We undertook an unannounced focused inspection of Horton Street on 09 January 2019. This inspection was done to check that improvements to meet legal requirements planned by the provider after our previous inspection on 19 September 2018 had been made.

We inspected the service against two of the five questions we ask about services: is the service well led and is the service safe. This is because the service was not meeting some legal requirements. No risks, concerns or significant improvement were identified in the remaining Key Questions through our ongoing monitoring or during our inspection activity so we did not inspect them.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for these Key Questions were included in calculating the overall rating in this inspection.

At our previous inspection on the 19 September 2018, the provider was found to be in breach of Regulations, 13 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and was rated as requires improvement overall. This was because the provider's audits and systems did not identify the shortfalls that we did. At this inspection we found that these regulations had been met. The providers overall rating has been changed to ‘Good’.

Horton Street is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Horton Street provides care and support for a maximum of six people. There were five people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were protected from risks associated with their health and care needs because risk assessments and associated care plans were developed, reviewed and monitored. Staff were aware of the risks to people when supporting them. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding and where to report concerns.

Staff were caring and treated people with respect. There was a friendly, calm relaxed atmosphere within the home. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who had the knowledge and skills they required to care for people safely and effectively. People received support from staff to take their prescribed medicines. Systems and processes were in place to ensure medicines were managed safely.

Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to hygiene and infection control. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and areas needing improvement were acted on.