Glebe Farm

Updated 22 December 2021

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.

This was a targeted inspection to check on a specific concern we had about people’s safety.

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 carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Glebe Farm 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. Inspection activity started on 24 November 2021 and ended on 10 December 2021. We visited Glebe Farm on 24 November 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information about incidents that the provider must notify us about. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people’s relatives on the telephone. We also spoke with nine staff, seven at the home and two on the telephone. Staff we spoke with included the registered manager, the clinical lead, the assistant manager, a senior support worker, three support workers, a chef, and a housekeeper.

We viewed a range of records. These included records relating to five people's care, accident and incident reports and analysis, and an infection control audit.

Updated 22 December 2021

Glebe Farm is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to nine people aged 18 and over. Eight young men were living at the home at the time of our inspection.

Each person living at Glebe Farm has their own one-bedroom flat, with en-suite bathroom and living space. There are three buildings surrounding an enclosed courtyard. Each building has three flats and some shared spaces. The home also has a shared kitchen and dining room.

Although this is a new home (built in 2018), it is registered to support nine people, which is larger than current best practice. The provider worked closely with the local authority during the planning stages and designed and built a home to meet the needs of specific individuals who have very complex requirements.

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

We found the service provided to people at Glebe Farm had improved in all areas since our last inspection. People who lived there now received good, personalised care and support by staff who were kind, caring and compassionate. Relatives of people who lived at the home all made very positive comments, including that there had been noticeable improvements. They were very satisfied with the service delivered by the staff and felt their family members were safe and well cared for. One relative said, “[The service is] fine, considerably better. They have residents’ best interests at the heart of what they do.”

Staff worked hard to enable each person to live the life they wanted to live. Staff knew how to keep people as safe as possible and carried out detailed assessments of potential risks. This meant each person was enabled to take positive risks and do what they wanted to do. Staff supported people to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were motivated, knowledgeable and skilled to provide care and support to each person. They had undertaken training in a wide range of subjects relevant to their role and were encouraged to develop further. All staff understood how to support people's privacy, dignity and independence. One member of staff said, “I really enjoy it here. I enjoy the [staff] I work with and the guys as well. No day is the same – it’s fun, interesting, different, challenging.”

Staff offered each person a range of opportunities for meaningful activity, based on the person’s preferences. Each person decided what they wanted to do and when, and staff encouraged people to undertake new challenges. Staff were developing links with the local community so people living in the home could feel involved. Any concerns were listened to and addressed.

Management of the service had improved considerably since our last inspection. The service was very well-led by a registered manager who inspired the staff team to put people they were supporting at the heart of everything they did. One relative said, “The service is fantastic…and definitely improving for the better.”

The provider's values were put into practice by the staff and governance systems ensured the service provided was of high quality. People, their relatives and staff were involved in improving all aspects of running the service and their voices were heard. Another relative told us, “We now find it excellent and are very pleased with the complete management [team] that runs it far better.” The registered manager highly praised and thanked the staff. They said, “I can’t do this by myself – it takes all of us working together as a team – we’ve all worked really hard to achieve this.”

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.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture. People were encouraged to make their own choices and their human rights were protected. The management team led by example and promoted a positive value based approach in providing people personalized care and support.

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 19 September 2019) and there were multiple 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

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

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.