Community Integrated Care (CIC) - 4 Seafarers Walk

Updated 14 February 2023

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 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 conducted by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Community Integrated Care (CIC) - 4 Seafarers Walk is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Community Integrated Care (CIC) - 4 Seafarers Walk is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. There was also a service manager who oversaw the day to day management in the service.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 25 January 2023 and ended on 2 February 2023. We visited the service on 25 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection, including notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

People living in the service had limited verbal communication. Therefore, we carried out observations of people's experiences throughout the inspection, spoke to 1 person and used a visual communication tool to help capture another person’s views. We spoke with 6 members of staff including care staff, the registered manager, the regional manager and the service manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and medicines records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and induction. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including accident and incident records and policies and procedures were reviewed. We received feedback from 1 person’s relative and 2 external professionals. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 14 February 2023

About the service

Community Integrated Care (CIC) - 4 Seafarers Walk is a residential care home who can provide personal care for up to 5 people with a learning disability and or Autism. At the time of the inspection there were 4 people living in the service.

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

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Appropriate arrangements were in place for obtaining, recording, administering and disposing of prescribed medicines. Some improvements were needed to ensure staff were making accurate records when medicines were audited, and this was actioned immediately by the service manager.

People told us they enjoyed living at 4 Seafarers Walk and they felt supported by staff who knew them well.

Staff had received training in safeguarding and understood their responsibilities. People were protected from abuse and there was an open culture, where staff supported people to express any concerns. Risks to people were assessed, and staff knew how to support people to minimise risks to their health and wellbeing.

Recruitment processes were safe to ensure only suitable staff were employed. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and this was regularly reviewed.

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.

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. The outcomes for people using the service promoted choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible to be involved in decisions about their own lives and gain new skills.

Right Support: The providers strategy to ensure people were supported to live their best life possible, was evident in the opportunities and support provided to people.

Right Care: Staff clearly knew people well and the consistency and strength of the staff team had been improved by the service manager. This meant people received person-centred support from staff who knew them well and respected their privacy and dignity.

Right Culture: The ethos and values of the service manager had been embedded in the staff team. This meant the values, attitudes and behaviours of care staff supported people to be confident and empowered in living in the community.

The provider had systems and processes to monitor quality within the home. The registered manager and service manager understood their regulatory responsibilities and shared information with stakeholders in a timely way.

There was a complaints procedure and people were supported to express their views.

The service manager and staff were proactively working with external professionals to ensure people received effective and safe care.

There was a clearly defined management structure and regular oversight and input from the provider’s management team. The staff team were positive about their roles and felt supported by the service manager.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 August 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focussed inspection of this service on 17 June 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve risk management, management of medicines and governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last full comprehensive inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Community Integrated Care (CIC) - 4 Seafarers Walk on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.