Touchstones

Updated 7 January 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 carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Touchstones 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.

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 checked notifications sent to us by the provider. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send to us by law.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the deputy manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We contacted two professionals who regularly visit the service but did not receive feedback.

Updated 7 January 2020

About the service

Touchstones is a residential care home providing personal care to 15 people aged 18 and over. At the time of the inspection 14 people were living there.

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

People were being supported by kind and caring staff who knew their needs well. Staff were well trained and recruited safely. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs.

People’s needs were fully assessed, and their care plans regularly reviewed with their keyworker. People had full access to other health and social care services and received support to use them. Individual needs, preferences and choices were respected and supported, and people were able to live the life they chose.

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 medicines were managed safely. People who were able to manage their own medicines were supported to do so. People told us they felt very safe living at Touchstones. There were policies and processes in place to protect people from abuse and staff had a good knowledge of the safeguarding process.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service being delivered. A development plan was made annually to address areas for improvement. Feedback was sought from people, their relatives and staff on how the service was doing and where they could improve.

Strong partnerships had been made with local community services and health practitioners.

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 (published 28 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.