The Oaks

The Oaks also provides a domiciliary care agency to people living in bungalows adjacent to the care home. Not everyone who used this service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

Recent changes within management had resulted in shortfalls to the quality of the service. The provider had sourced additional management support and created detailed action plans to drive forward the improvements needed.

Quality assurance systems in place had supported the provider to identify shortfalls in quality. The provider was open and honest regarding these shortfalls and had taken appropriate action to address these in a timely way.

People were happy with the service and told us they were supported by kind and caring staff. The service was clean and welcoming, and people were engaged within the local community.

Staff understood their roles and knew what was expected of them. Risks to people were assessed and reviewed on a regular basis. Medicines were managed safely. Staff were recruited safely and they understood the principles of keeping people safe.

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.

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 25 April 2022).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to management oversight, safeguarding people and pressure area care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report. The provider had identified shortfalls with documentation and safeguarding at the service and was taking appropriate action to address this.

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation regarding the documentation for the risk management of pressure area care for people.

Follow up

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

The Oaks is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 43 people. The service provided support to people living with dementia, physical disabilities, sensory impairments and care for people over the age of 65. At the time of our inspection, there were 31 people using the service. The Oaks supports people in a purpose built building with all the rooms being en-suite. The premises were separated over two floors, with the first floor supporting people with nursing needs.

The Oaks also provided a domiciliary care agency to people living in bungalows adjacent to the residential care home. Not everyone who used this service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People were protected from the risk of abuse and neglect. People had risks to their safety and wellbeing assessed and managed. Systems were in place to review and monitor risks.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. Staff who administered medication had the correct training, skills and knowledge to complete this safely.

Systems and processes were in place to manage the risk of infection transmission. If something went wrong, there were processes in place to review and learn from this to minimise future risk.

People’s preferences and wishes were listened to and implemented to provide person-centred care. People gave consent to receive care and staff had a good level of training to provide safe and compassionate care.

People told us the food was good quality and people received enough food and drinks. Staff worked with other organisations, such as health and social care professionals to make sure people received the correct care.

The premises were being renovated but had been delayed due to the impact of COVID-19. People received support in different ways whilst renovations took place. People were treated with dignity, kindness and respect whereby people were involved in decisions about their care.

There was a strong management presence as the registered manager and provider had implemented significant improvements since the last inspection. There was a culture of continual improvement and development to provide a high standard of care.

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 different committees which involved people and represented the views of people living at The Oaks.

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 24 June 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. Since the last inspection, the service has a new provider. The new provider registered with CQC on 20 January 2020. 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 service was no longer in breach of regulations. At our last inspection we recommended that the provider support staff to improve their knowledge in relation to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. At this inspection, we found the provider had acted on this recommendation.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as The Oaks had not been inspected under the current provider. 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.

Follow up

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