We carried out a review of the data available to us about Kingston Court Care Home on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Kingston Court Care Home, you can give feedback on this service.
Kingston Court Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 76 people. At the time of our inspection there were 74 people using the service.
The home is a modern, purpose-built care home over three floors. The accommodation on two floors is specifically for older people living with dementia-related conditions. Kingston Court is sited in the grounds of the Cumberland Infirmary and the home also provides several interim places for people leaving hospital.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider had made improvements to the way the home was managed. There were governance and quality assurance systems in place. Audits were up to date and identified any lessons learnt following incidents and accidents so that action could be taken to keep people safe. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs.
People told us they felt safe at Kingston Court Care Home. They were supported by staff who were trained and who understood their responsibilities to provide people with safe and effective care. Assessments were carried out to identify any potential risks to people and measures put in place to mitigate these. The home was clean and hygienic, and staff maintained effective systems of infection prevention and control. The provider exercised safe recruitment practices.
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.
People, relatives and staff spoke positively of the culture within the home. There was good and consistent communication between all members of staff, which helped ensure people received safe care with good outcomes. Staff felt well-supported by their managers and there were effective working relationships with other professionals involved in people's care.
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 11 March 2022) and there was a breach of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 14 December 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.
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 requires improvements to good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kingston Court 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.
Kingston Court Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 76 people. At the time of inspection there were 74 people living there.
The home is a modern, purpose-built care home over three floors. The accommodation on two floors is specifically for older people living with dementia-related conditions. Kingston Court is sited in the grounds of the Cumberland Infirmary and the home also provides a number of interim places for people leaving hospital.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider’s systems for monitoring the service were not always effective. Audits had not always identified shortfalls, or actions had not been taken to make improvements.
Medicines were managed safely but medicines records were not always accurately maintained. There were gaps in the records about staff testing for COVID-19, so it was unclear if government guidance had been followed.
People’s nutritional health was monitored but it was not always clear what actions were taken to support improvements. We have made a recommendation about this.
People and their relatives said the home was a safe place to live. Staff followed good infection control practices and the home was clean and well maintained.
People and relatives were positive about the kind and caring nature of staff and had good relationships with them. They described staff as “helpful” and “friendly”. People said staff were always busy but came when they requested support.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service upheld this practice.
People, relatives and care professionals said the management team were open and approachable. They had information about how to raise issues and were confident about discussing anything with the management team.
There was a positive, friendly culture in the home and there was a range of activities for people to join in. Staff said they were happy in roles and described the provider and management team as “supportive”.
The provider was committed to continuous improvement of the service and welcomed people’s views.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating
This service was registered with us by a new provider on 10 June 2019 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 9 June 2018.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection.
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.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
We have identified a breach in relation to good governance of the service. 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 for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.