'Serious injury' prompts inspection; now specialist Banbury care provider must improve 'safe' element of service

The inspection was arranged after the CQC was notified about an incident in which a person using the HF Trust Oxfordshire DCA service sustained a serious injury.

HF Trust Oxfordshire DCA, based in Broad Street, Banbury is a supported living and domiciliary care service providing personal care to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people living in shared or individual accommodation.

Personal care is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating and any wider social care provided.

At the time of the April inspection the provider supported 82 people in 24 supported living settings across Oxfordshire.

“We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted,” today’s CQC report says.

'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

The inspection team found not all premises were of a quality to meet people's assessed needs. In one setting, a resident was at risk of harm due to their support needs increasing. The registered manager had identified this and was in the process of evaluating suitability of premises.

“We have made a recommendation about consulting current and best practice guidance about expected standards of supported housing accommodation to reduce the risks of people living in potentially unsafe premises,” the report says.

“Most staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. However, we found not all processes had been followed when people were potentially at risk of further harm. The registered manager had reflected on this and taken action to ensure reporting and investigation took place in line with the provider's policy and procedures.”

The inspectors found 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. Staff supported people to have as much choice, control and independence as they could.

People and their relatives told inspectors they received care from staff who were kind and compassionate. Staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. The service had enough suitably skilled staff to keep people safe.

There was an effective registered manager in place who had identified where improvements were needed.

People and their relatives had confidence and felt well supported by the service.

The last rating for this service (2018) was good.

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service sustained a serious injury. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the incident’s circumstances. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of falls. This inspection examined those risks.

For key questions not inspected, inspectors used ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating, which is ‘good’.