Archived: Darenth Grange Residential Home

Updated 26 June 2021

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 registered 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Darenth Grange Residential Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the registered provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection to check if the service had active cases of COVID 19.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection including submitted action plans. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the registered provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information registered providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who lived in the service and observed some of the care three more people received in communal areas. We spoke with three care staff, the wellbeing and activities coordinator, a housekeeper and the maintenance manager. We also spoke with the head of care, deputy manager and registered manager.

We reviewed the care plans for six people. We also looked at records relating to the management of medicines, health and safety records and key policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered provider to validate evidence found. This included information sent to us by the registered manager assuring us steps had quickly been taken to address the concerns we raised during our inspection visit. We also spoke by telephone with five relatives who gave us their views on the service.

Updated 26 June 2021

About the service

Darenth Grange Residential Home is registered to provide personal care and accommodation for 29 older people. It can also accommodate people who live with dementia and people who have adaptive needs due to sensory loss.

At this inspection there were 26 people living in the service.

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

People told us they were safe at the service and well supported by staff. A person said, "The staff are good to me and I like them." A relative said, “I’m satisfied with the home and they give my family member very good care.”

Fire drills had not always been robust and there were limited shortfalls in medicines management, safe recruitment practices and learning lessons to reduce the risk of falls. Some people wanted to be offered a wider range of opportunities to enjoy social activities. Information had not always been given to people in a user-friendly way. People and their relatives had not been given all the information they needed about how to make a complaint. Immediately after our inspection visit the registered manager sent us evidence showing the shortfalls had been addressed. They also assured us new quality checks had been introduced to ensure the same shortfalls did not occur again.

People and their relatives had not been fully supported to suggest improvements to the service.

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 were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. Quality checks ensured people consistently received the personal care they needed. There were enough staff on duty. Infection was prevented and controlled.

There was an open culture and staff were supported to work as a team. The registered manager understood the duty of candour requiring the service to be open and honest when things go wrong. The service worked in partnership with other agencies.

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 requires improvement (published 24 October 2018) and there were breaches of three regulations. The registered provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection enough improvement had not been made and the registered provider was still in breach of one regulation.

The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last four consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to gain an updated view of the care people received. This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led.

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 infectious outbreaks effectively.

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 the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained as Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection. Please see the Safe, Responsive and Well-led sections of the full report.

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

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 regulation 17 at this inspection. The registered provider had failed to establish and effectively operate systems and processes to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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.