Chandler Court

Chandler Court is a residential care home that provides nursing and personal care for up to 80 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection visit 53 people were using the service.

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

People did not always have risks to their health and welfare effectively managed. Care plans and risk assessments did not always reflect guidance and advice from professionals. People did not always receive their medicines in line with the prescription.

Audits were not always effective in identifying where actions were needed to improve the assessment and monitoring of risks and did not effectively monitor the outcomes for people.

People were protected from the risks of COVID-19 by effective infection control procedures. Staff had training in relation to COVID-19 and had access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The registered manager and provider ensured that staff were kept up to date with infection control procedures that reflected current government guidance.

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.

There were systems in place to identify any potential signs that people were unsafe or at risk of avoidable harm, however these systems were not always effective in identifying these risks. Staff understood their responsibilities to keep people safe.

People told us they felt safe and were happy with the care they received.

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.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-led only.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Chandler Court our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and governance and management 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.

People’s experience of using this service:

•People felt well cared for telling us, “The staff are so kind here, it’s been more like being on holiday.”

•The registered manager had systems to keep people safe and to check the effectiveness of these systems.

•Care was person centred and care plans were reviewed and updated regularly.

•Staff knew people well, were aware of people’s preferences and they chatted to people when they were being supported with care.

Links had been made with the local community in the form of volunteers from a local supermarket and visits to and from local nursery schools. The home promoted an ethos of living happy and fulfilled lives, with the use of a wishing tree to provide people with activities that were meaningful to them.

Staff were well supported by a system of induction, training, supervisions, appraisals and staff meetings. They had opportunities to raise concerns or suggestions and be involved in the development of the service.

Why we inspected: This was the first comprehensive inspection of Chandler Court since registration in 2018, the inspection was unannounced.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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