25 April 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Earl’s Lodge Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care and support to up to 52 people. The service provides support to older people some of whom are living with dementia. The home is registered to provide residential and nursing care. However, the provider has taken the decision not to admit people with nursing care needs. At the time of our inspection there were 48 people living in the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they were happy and safe living in the home. People received person-centred care from staff who know them and know their needs. People told us they feel that Earl's Lodge is their home.
There were systems and processes place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Staff had received appropriate training and knew how to report any concerns. Infection prevention and control (IPC) policies and process were in place and PPE was available throughout the home. Staff told us they had received the appropriate training.
Accidents and incidents were recorded and monitored to ensure trends and patterns were identified. Action was taken to reduce future risks occurring. The registered manager kept a record of lessons learned.
Staff were kind and caring and people told us that there were enough staff on duty to meet their needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Visiting professionals from health and social care services talked positively about partnership working and support and care for people in the home. There was a culture of support for staff that empowered them to carry out their roles to the best of their ability. The provider was engaged in a range of community-based programmes to improve leadership in the social care sector.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was good (27 September 2022). At our last inspection we made a recommendation about medicines and a recommendation about people's care records. The provider responded to swiftly address these issues at time of inspection.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the number of safeguarding enquiries that we received. A decision was made for us to undertake a focussed inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions therefore we did not inspect them.
We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
The overall rating for the service has not changed. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Earl’s Lodge Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.