Background to this inspection
Updated
11 June 2021
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.
Inspection team
The inspection was completed by two inspectors.
Service and service type
Henford House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with a nurse, two care staff, the deputy manager, operations manager and regional director. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.
After the inspection
We received feedback from seven relatives and one member of care staff. We requested feedback from health and social care professionals who have contact with the service but did not receive any response.
Updated
11 June 2021
About the service
Henford House is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 31 older people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 58 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were not always supported to safely take the medicines they were prescribed. Some people had not received their medicines and staff had not completed accurate records for other people. This meant it was not possible to say whether some people had received their medicines.
The provider had quality assurance systems in place. However, the audits had failed to identify the shortfalls we identified. We have recommended the provider seeks guidance on the systems they have in place and the training provided to staff who complete audits.
The provider did not have a registered manager in post, which is required as a condition of their registration. The home was being led by an operations manager, who said they intended to apply for registration while the provider was recruiting a permanent manager for the home.
People and their relatives felt safe living at Henford House and felt staff treated them well.
The provider had made changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and there were good infection prevention and control measures in place.
The operations manager had worked well with people and their relatives to identify improvements that were needed at the service and plan out how to achieve them. Progress with the action plan was being overseen by senior directors to ensure the necessary improvements were made.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 16/10/2020)
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to managing the risks people faced, infection prevention and control measures and management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Henford House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.