Aberford Hall

Updated 26 November 2020

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.

This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place. As part of CQC's response to the coronavirus pandemic we are conducting a thematic review of infection control and prevention measures in care homes.

This inspection took place on 16 November 2020 and was announced. The service was selected to take part in this thematic review which is seeking to identify examples of good practice in infection prevention and control.

Updated 26 November 2020

Aberford Hall is a care home service for up to 42 older people that may require nursing care and support. The home is split over two floors with people requiring nursing on the first floor. At the time of this inspection 39 people were living at this service.

At our last inspection we rated the service ‘Good’ with requires improvement in effective due to a breach of Regulation 11: Need for consent. At this inspection we found the breach had been met and evidence continued to support the rating of Good. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The provider had systems in place to protect people from avoidable harm and abuse. Staff had good knowledge about the potential types of abuse and how to report them.

Assessments of risks associated with people's care and support had been completed and detailed guidance to support staff to provide individualised care and support to people.

We observed staff had sufficient time to ensure people’s needs were attended to in a timely manner. Records showed that robust recruitment systems were in place including pre-employment checks to ensure people were of a suitable character to work in a care home environment.

Staff were supported through training to build their skills and knowledge, regular supervisions and appraisals. Management also completed competency checks to highlight any additional training needs and to recognise good practice.

Staff had good awareness of the MCA and DoLS procedures. However, we identified that improvements were needed to ensure appropriate records were checked and kept in people’s files.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People and their relatives told us they felt staff genuinely cared for them and that they worked hard to ensure people’s privacy, dignity and independence were maintained.

Equality and diversity policies were in place to support staff in meeting people’s diverse needs. Care and support plans reflected people's wishes and preferences.

A variety of activities were organised each week and staff respected people’s choice if they preferred not to join in. People in their rooms were not isolated as staff ensured they regularly chatted to them and checked they were happy and comfortable.

The complaints policy was easily accessible for people to raise a complaint if they wished to do so. Records showed complaints had been acknowledged and responded to in line with the providers complaint policy and procedures.

The provider sought feedback from people, relatives and staff by asking them to complete an annual satisfaction survey. However, the analysis of the scores was not always reflective of the feedback received. Regular meetings were held which did capture some people’s views and opinions of the service.

Quality assurance systems were in place and identified areas where improvements could be made. However, the environmental audit had not highlighted some of the issues we found during this inspection. This was an area that required further improvements to be made.

Further information is in the detailed findings below