Archived: Priory Radstock

Updated 25 October 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an assistant inspector on the first day. The second day was completed by two inspectors and a member of the medicines team.

Service and service type

Priory Radstock 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.

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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). 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. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report. We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the provider is legally required to tell us about.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who lived at the service. We also spoke with eight members of staff, this included the registered manager, assistant manager and care staff. We spoke with two visiting professionals. We reviewed a sample of people’s care and support records. We also looked at records relating to staff recruitment and the management of the service such as incident and accident records, meeting minutes, training records, policies, audits and complaints.

After the inspection

We contacted seven health and social care professionals who regularly visit the service and received feedback from three of them. We also received feedback from one relative.

Updated 25 October 2019

About the service

Priory Radstock is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 12 people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and/or mental health needs. The home comprises of the main house which contains five self-contained flats and five en-suite bedrooms. Alongside the main house there is another house called, The Coach House. At the time of the inspection there was one person living in the Coach House and 10 people living in the main house.

The service was a large home, bigger than most domestic style properties. It was registered for the support of up to 12 people. Ten people were using the service. This is larger than current best practice guidance. However. the size of the service having a negative impact on people was mitigated by the building design fitting into the residential area and the other large domestic homes of a similar size. There were deliberately no identifying signs, intercom, cameras, industrial bins or anything else outside to indicate it was a care home. Staff were also discouraged from wearing anything that suggested they were care staff when coming and going with people.

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

Staff had not received a full range of comprehensive training to enable them to fully understand and support people’s needs. The registered manager had a plan in place to address this.

There were systems in place to monitor the standard of care provided at the service. The systems were not fully effective in identify all of the areas for improvement we identified during the inspection.

Staff received regular one to one supervision and told us they felt supported.

Most areas of the home were clean; however, the laundry room was not. The registered manager took immediate action to rectify this.

People told us they felt safe living at Priory Radstock. Staff felt confident to raise concerns with the registered manager and were aware of external agencies where they could report concerns.

Staff supported people to manage their medicines safety. Risks to people were identified and guidance was in place for staff to reduce the level of risk to people.

There were enough staff available to support people. Staff were recruited safely.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s healthcare needs were identified and met. Staff worked with a range of healthcare professionals to meet people’s needs.

People were supported by caring staff who worked towards promoting their dignity and independence.

People’s care plans were detailed, people and their relatives were involved in writing their plans. Some of the care plans we viewed contained inaccurate information, and daily notes were not always fully completed. Some additional information was required in some care plans to ensure they provided staff with information in line with national guidance.

People's concerns and complaints were listened to and responded to. People and staff commented positively about the management of the service.

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 (May 2017).

Why we inspected

We brought this inspection forward because of concerns we had identified in one of the providers other locations.