Conifers Nursing Home

Updated 11 February 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. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

Two inspectors carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Conifers Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC 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 provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and four peoples’ relatives about their experience of the care provided to their loved ones. We spoke with eight members of staff including the regional manager, registered manager, deputy manager, care workers and domestic staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at staff training data.

Updated 11 February 2022

About the service

Conifers Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 43

people with different health and care needs, including those living with a dementia, at the time of the inspection. The service is situated within a residential neighbourhood and can support up to 55 people in one purpose built, two-storey building.

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

People were protected against the risk of abuse. Staff were recruited safely and there were enough of them to meet people’s needs. People were supported to take their medicines safely. The provider had robust infection prevention and control procedures to protect people from cross infection. The provider used accidents and incidents as a learning opportunity to improve the safety of the service.

The registered manager had developed a positive, person-centred culture within the service. The staff team were committed to providing people with high-quality care that met their needs. The registered manager understood their responsibilities under the duty of candour. The provider used feedback and the results of audits to continually improve the service.

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 good (published 12 February 2020).

Why we inspected

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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

We received concerns in relation to staff conduct and the management of safeguarding concerns. As a result, we carried out a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe section of this full report.

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 not changed based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Conifers Nursing 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.