Newbiggin care facility for adults with autism and learning difficulties out of special measures but must improve further, CQC says

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), an independent regulator, inspected Alexandra Park in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in May 2023 and rated it as ‘requires improvement’ in its subsequent report.

The care facility was previously in special measures following an ‘inadequate’ rating, given after a 2022 inspection found major safety issues.

Improvements were since made, but Alexandra Park has now been rated less than ‘good’ following seven consecutive inspections.

The most recent report reveals a more consistent staff team, a new manager in place, and additional staff training.

Changes are underway to increase residents’ independence, such as individual postboxes, a fob-accessed gateway to the local community, and refurbishments to the site’s facilities.

The inspection revealed a lack of staff available to drive was limiting residents’ community access, but the report notes additional staff have since joined Alexandra Park.

Inspectors found medicines were administered safely and not excessively, but the facility was told “further improvement” was needed to eliminate mistakes in medicines records.

The report said that following the inspection, “additional medicines checks were being carried out, further advice had been sought from the medicines optimisation team, and they had clarified and changed certain procedures to help ensure staff completed medicines records correctly.”

While staff and relatives did not raise any safeguarding concerns with the CQC, the inspection found an ineffective system for handling allegations.

The CQC were not informed of safeguarding allegations and, according to the report, “the provider's safeguarding log did not include all safeguarding incidents or record what actions had been taken, the outcome of the safeguarding referral, and any lessons learned.”

There was not an effective risk monitoring system in place and the report detailed how accidents and incidents were recorded but not monitored centrally to identify trends.

The report added: “An effective system was not fully in place to assess and monitor infection control. We had concerns about the cleanliness and condition of one person's accommodation.”

Staff told inspectors a renovation of the accommodation in question was planned.

Inspectors also found that records did not evidence that decisions to restrict residents' liberty were made in their best interests, and also recommended that the nutritional needs of residents were better met.

The report further highlighted that communication with residents’ relatives needed to improve.

It said: “Whilst new communication systems, policies, protocols, and procedures had been introduced since our last inspection, further action was required to ensure the improvements made were sustained and embedded into practice.”

A spokesperson for Lifeways, which runs Alexandra Park, said: “We accept the findings in the latest CQC report on our Alexandra Park supported living service. We are pleased that the CQC has recognised that our service is moving forward on a journey of continual improvement.

“We are absolutely committed and invested in securing a ‘Good’ rating, and we eagerly await the next inspection to showcase the further improvements we are making.

“Additionally, we are pleased that our colleagues have fed back positively on the service’s ‘cheerful atmosphere’ noted in the report, and our team’s work in improving ‘people’s independence and wellbeing.’

“We are also glad that relatives have spoken positively about our team’s commitment to the individuals they support.”