St Augustine's Care Home

This report provides an overview of the CQC inspection at St Augustine's Care Home, assessing its performance across key areas of care provision. The inspection aimed to ensure the home meets the necessary standards for the safety, effectiveness, caring nature, responsiveness, and leadership of its services, particularly for residents with learning disabilities and/or autism. The findings highlight both areas of strength and areas where further development is needed to fully meet regulatory requirements and ensure the highest quality of care for all residents.

On safety, while residents and relatives generally felt safe and staff knew individual needs well, there were concerns regarding infection prevention and control during an outbreak, with some staff returning to work sooner than national guidance suggested. Not all risk assessment records were consistently up-to-date, and a formal outbreak management plan was not implemented in a timely manner.

In terms of how effective the care is, staff generally worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, and residents felt choices were sought. However, records concerning consent and capacity were not always consistent, and further work was required to ensure all Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications were correctly re-applied for.

The service is caring, with staff supporting residents in a person-centred way. They understood individual preferences, wishes, and lifestyle choices, providing care respectfully and kindly, ensuring residents felt well looked after.

In terms of how responsive the home is, residents were supported to have maximum choice and control over their lives, with staff advocating for them in the least restrictive way. Visitors could see their loved ones without undue restrictions, and were kept informed of any necessary precautions.

On leadership, while some improvements had been made in areas like staff training and medicine management, governance systems were not always fully embedded or effective. There were ongoing efforts to update care records and address identified shortfalls, but more assurance was needed regarding the management team's oversight of quality and safety.