Archived: Anchor Lodge Retirement Home

Updated 3 February 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe, and the service was compliant with IPC measures.

This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 16 December 2020 and was unannounced.

Updated 3 February 2021

About the service:

Anchor Lodge Retirement Home accommodates up to 14 people in one adapted building. On the day of our inspection there were ten people living at the service. Anchor Lodge is a detached building situated on the sea front in Walton on the Naze. The premises is set out on three floors with each person using the service having their own individual bedroom. The service has a communal lounge and dining area.

Rating at last inspection: At our last inspection, the service was rated ‘Inadequate’. Our last report was published on 25 July 2018.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. Following our last inspection, the provider sent out an action plan setting out the actions that they intended to take to address the shortfalls that we found.

People’s experience of using this service:

At our last inspection we found that there had been a deterioration in the quality of care provided at Anchor Lodge Retirement Home. There were breaches of Regulations 9,11,12,17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

This service was placed in in Special Measures. Services that are in Special Measures are kept under review and inspected again within six months. We expect services to make significant improvements within this timeframe.

During this inspection the service demonstrated to us that improvements have been made and is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is now out of Special Measures. We found that while there was still some work to do, the service met the characteristics of Requires Improvement.

People received care from staff who knew them well. People told us they were happy living in the service and staff were kind and caring.

Improvements had been made to staffing and a new activities member of staff had been appointed. However, we were not assured that there were always sufficient numbers of staff available. Several of the people living in the service had a diagnosis of dementia and other health conditions which meant that their needs were complex. The layout of the building meant that staff did not always have oversight of the communal areas which presented some risks. We have asked the provider to take action on this.

The environment was better maintained.

There were systems in place to reduce the risk of cross infection.

Medicines were better managed and while we found some shortfalls, practice largely followed professional guidance.

There were improved systems in place to recruit staff and ensure their suitability before they started work at the service.

Staff received training to develop their skills.

People told us they enjoyed the food.

People were referred for specialist health care support when needed.

People were supported 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.

Care plans were in place but were not always sufficiently detailed.

People had better access to activities to enhance their wellbeing.

The manager had started the process of developing oversight systems, but these had not identified some of the areas that we identified at the inspection such as gaps in documentation and safety shortfalls.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Follow up: We will continue to monitor all intelligence received about the service to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.