Seabreezes

Updated 10 April 2020

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 conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

Seabreeze’s 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

This inspection was unannounced.

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 safeguarding and commissioning staff and from Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met and spoke to all the people living in the service. Three people were able to tell us a little about their experience. We met and spoke with three support staff, the registered manager and the quality improvement lead.

We looked at two people’s care plans and associated health and medicine records. We reviewed information about the operational management of the service such as staff records and quality assurance. We made observations of people when they were in communal areas to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

After the inspection

We sought clarification regarding the use of agency staff and vacant staffing hours. We spoke with two relatives who had regular contact with their family members and received feedback from one health professional.

Updated 10 April 2020

About the service

Seabreeze’s is a care home without nursing for six people living with learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum disorder. There were five people living in the service at the time of our inspection visit. The vacancy had been allocated and that person was having transitional visits to Seabreeze’s before they moved in.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

People were safe. The premises were clean and well maintained. Staff attended fire training and drills, so they knew how to respond in a fire to keep people safe. Accidents and incidents were acted upon appropriately and records of these were monitored and analysed for any trends or patterns that needed looking into.

We observed people to be calm and relaxed with staff who knew them well and had supported them for many years. Staff showed affection and kindness towards people and cared about changes that may affect them. People were encouraged to do things for themselves as much as possible. Staff understood peoples preferred methods of communication and were observed to adhere to these.

Two people were able to tell us they were happy where they lived. Relatives spoke positively about how well their family members were treated and had praise for the staff team.

Personal care was delivered in accordance with peoples known preferences and people were consulted at all stages. Staff had received training and guidance, on how to deliver personal care and support in a dignified manner that protected people’s privacy.

Staff were trained to keep people safe and to understand their specific health and social care needs, they supported people to use health services. People enjoyed their meals and made choices about what they wanted to eat. People spent time alone when they wanted to and there was ongoing work to develop new activity programmes that better reflected their interests and achievable skills development.

There were enough staff to support people and this was kept under review. Staff received an appropriate range of training to give them the basic knowledge and skills needed for their role. Medicines were managed safely. Staff felt supported and able to express their views.

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. Relatives told us they were kept informed about important information affecting their family members wellbeing and had participated in best interest discussions as and when required.

A range of quality checks and audits were undertaken each week and month to ensure standards were maintained.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating inspection for this service was Good (published 14 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.