Gingercroft Residential Home

Updated 16 December 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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 carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Gingercroft Residential Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Gingercroft Residential Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 8 people who used the service and 1 visiting relative, during the inspection. We also spoke with 5 staff including care assistants, senior carers, a head of care and the activity staff member. We also spoke with the registered manager. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. We looked at 4 people’s care records and multiple medicines and daily care records. We looked at 3 staff files to check recruitment processes. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, building safety records and audits were also reviewed.

Updated 16 December 2023

About the service

Gingercroft Residential Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 21 people. The service provides support to older people and those who may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service, although one of those people was in hospital at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were not always protected from the risk of abuse and incidents were not always identified and reported, as appropriate. However, people told us they felt safe. Staff were not always recruited safely as the appropriate checks were not always completed. There was mixed feedback about staffing levels and staff were not always deployed appropriately. Medicines management needed improving. Risks were not always fully assessed and planned for and there was not always evidence of learning following incidents. Improvements were needed to infection controls practices in the service. Quality assurance systems in place were not effective at monitoring the quality and safety of people’s care. Notifications were not always submitted as required. Staff felt they worked well as a team but did not always feel supported by the provider and registered manager. The registered manager was open to feedback and eager to make improvements.

People’s health needs were not always fully planned for, so staff did not always have detailed guidance. Staff told us they received training, however there were gaps in training records. Areas of the service needed refurbishing as they were in poor condition. A cellar door and open access stairs could pose a risk to people and staff, and this was not always being mitigated.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Although we did see staff asking people consent before supporting them.

People were generally satisfied with the food and drinks available and had a choice.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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 18 February 2020).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by concerns we received from the local authority about the oversight and safety of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to people being kept safe from risk, allegations of abuse, appropriate checks not always in place for staff recruitment, getting consent from the relevant person and the oversight of the service at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it, and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.