Archived: Harrington Cottage

Updated 19 May 2017

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 question, is the service safe, under the Care Act 2014.

This unannounced inspection was carried out on 30 April 2017 by one inspector because this is a small service. The inspection was carried out to check that the service was compliant with a breach of regulations found at the last inspection of 21 October 2015. We inspected the service against one of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe? We inspected on a Sunday as we wanted to catch people at home so we could talk with them.

We had not requested a Provider Information Return (PIR) because this was a focused inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service, we looked at previous inspection reports and any notifications received by the Care Quality Commission. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

We spoke with two people who lived at the service, a senior member of staff and another member of staff. We spent time with people chatting and observing the morning routine and we looked at some records.

Updated 19 May 2017

Care service description

Harrington Cottage is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to six people. Harrington Cottage is a detached house situated near Aldington village and has views over countryside. People living at the service had a range of learning disabilities. There were four people living at the service at the time of the inspection. Everyone had their own bedroom and shared a lounge, kitchen, dining room, bathrooms and toilets.

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good overall and rated Requires Improvement in the ‘safe’ domain.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 21 October 2015. One breach of a regulation was found. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Regulated Activities Regulations 2014, medicines management. We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Harrington Cottage on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

At this inspection we found the service remained 'Good' overall and is now rated Good in the ‘safe’ domain.

Why the service is rated Good

The service had improved since the last inspection and the breach of Regulation 12 had been met.

There were now records of the stocks of medicines purchased ‘over the counter’ as well as medicines given only when needed including pain relief. Medicines were stored safely and there were now clear guidelines for each person who took medicines on an ‘as and when needed’ basis. Medicines records were up to date and accurate.

Staffing was organised around people’s activities and appointments so staff were available when people needed them. Staff continued to be recruited safely although no new permanent staff had been employed recently.

Risks continued to be well managed so that no one was restricted and everyone took part in a range of activities and experiences. People indicated that they felt safe. Staff knew about different types of abuse and who to report any concerns to.