CQC rating for Emily Jackson Close
Tuesday 31st of October 2023Avenues is carrying out a detailed action plan to improve its service at 1-3 Emily Jackson Close in Kent after its latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.
The residential care home provides personal care across three bungalows to up to 18 people with a learning disability and who are autistic. Following a CQC inspection in July 2023, it was rated as ‘Inadequate’ overall and in two of the inspection areas (‘Safe’ and ‘Well-led’). Three of the five inspection areas were rated as Requires Improvement (‘Effective’, ‘Caring’ and ‘Responsive’).
The service was previously rated as ‘Good’, and Avenues has an organisational commitment that all its services maintain this or achieve better.
Inspectors “identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, managing environmental and health risks, person- centred care, dignity and respect, consent, staffing and good governance at this inspection”.
The service is now in special measures, which means that CQC will keep the care home under review and re-inspect within six months to check for significant improvements.
Thorough and detailed action plan
Immediately after the inspection, we took steps to address the concerns raised and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the people we support at the service. This builds upon the good work that was already in place, whilst addressing the specific concerns raised. We also developed a thorough and detailed action plan, which we are currently fulfilling.
We quickly appointed a new management team at the service, including a new Registered Manager. Following a successful recruitment campaign, we have hired a number of new Support Workers over recent months. Our team are working with individuals we support to plan their goals for the next six months. We have reviewed and refreshed all of our training with our staff team and have put a governance planner in place.
We’re working in partnership with the property owners to fix and repair any identified environmental issues. We are also redecorating the bungalows according to the choices and preferences of the people living there. This work was being arranged prior to the inspection.
Since the inspection, we have provided weekly updates on the progress against our plan to CQC and our main commissioner who continue to communicate their assurance with the actions we have taken. We are in regular communication with the families of the people we support at Emily Jackson Close. Our action plan will continue to be monitored over the coming weeks and months, with a focus on achieving significant measurable improvements.
Kevin Hulls, South East Regional Director, said:
“I firmly believe that the expertise and commitment of the new management team will drive positive change and enhanced leadership at 1-3 Emily Jackson Close. I am determined that we learn from this inspection and return to delivering the high quality service that we expect, as soon as possible.”
Dan Gower-Smith, Group Operations Director, added:
“CQC’s findings fall far short of the quality of service that people deserve to receive and that we aim to deliver at Avenues. We have taken prompt action and are embedding our learning within our practice. We are carrying out a full investigation to understand exactly what happened at Emily Jackson Close and to ensure that this never happens again in any of our services.”
You can access the full report on the CQC website.
Concerns, complaints or compliments
If you have a concern, complaint or compliment about our services, you can email us directly, (see easy read complaint guidance), or call us on 0300 323 0405. We aim to answer email enquiries within three working days.
Read our detailed CCC procedure