Background to this inspection
Updated
16 June 2022
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.
This was a targeted inspection to check whether the provider had acted on a concern we had about medicines management and health observations on admission to the service.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by an inspection manager.
Service and service type
Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme 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. Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there were two registered managers 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. 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people about their experiences. We spoke with six staff, which included two care staff, the lead nurse, practice development manager and two registered managers. We reviewed medicine and admission records for three people. We looked at a variety of records in relation to medicines management and monitoring systems.
Updated
16 June 2022
About the service
Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme is a purpose-built care village. There are six separate households, each able to accommodate 12 people who require differing levels of care and support. At the time of the inspection there were 58 people living at the service who were receiving personal and nursing care across five households. The service can support up to 74 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe. However, some improvements were needed to staffing levels, particularly at night, to ensure people did not have to wait too long for the support they needed.
Improvements had been made to medicines systems since the last inspection and medicines were safely managed. Some improvements were required but the provider was aware of these and had a plan in place to address any issues.
People’s risks were assessed and managed and staff knew how to support people safely. People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm and systems were in place to ensure lessons were learned when things went wrong.
The provider followed safe practices to ensure people were protected from the spread of infection.
Improvements had been made to the quality assurance systems in place. The registered manager had implemented a robust system to check and identify issues with quality and safety of services and there was an action plan in place to address any shortfalls.
The registered manager and the management team were visible and approachable. Staff and the management team shared a vision to provide good quality, person-centred care and were working towards good outcomes for people.
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 requires improvement (published 5 September 2020) and there were two breaches of regulations. The provider was issued with a Warning Notice following the last inspection. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to staffing levels, particularly at night. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We also checked whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulations 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met.
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 requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. However, we found some evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe section of this full report. The provider was aware of the issues and working on the required improvements.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.