Archived: Evergreen Care Home

Updated 19 January 2021

The inspection

This was a targeted inspection to check whether the provider was meeting requirements for a specific concern we had about infection control practices.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Evergreen Care 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to establish the current status of residents and staff members in relation to COVID-19.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five members of staff including the provider, registered manager, deputy manager and care workers. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 19 January 2021

About the service

Evergreen Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care for 19 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 24 people.

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

The provider’s governance systems to monitor the delivery and quality of the service provided for people were not consistently robust and required further improvement. For example, ensuring risk assessments and care plans were reflective of all medical conditions and clear protocols in place to support staff on what they need to do to support people effectively.

People living at the home and their relatives had shared concerns about the provider’s management style. Staff reported feeling undervalued and not listened to.

All the people, relatives, and staff we spoke with said the staff provided good quality care.

People were safe using the service. Staff knew how to protect people from harm and reduce the risk of accidents and incidents. There were enough suitably recruited staff on duty to meet people’s needs and to keep people safe. People were supported by staff who knew their needs well. Staff supported people with their medicines and this was done safely. Staff understood how to prevent and control the spread of infection.

People were assessed before being accepted to the service to ensure the provider could meet their needs. Assessments addressed people's physical and health needs, their cultural and language needs, and what was important to them. Staff received training which helped them to deliver personalised care. People were happy with the choice of food available and where appropriate, received additional support with their dietary needs. The provider worked well with external health and social care professionals and people were supported to access these services when they needed them to ensure their health was maintained.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service required some improvement to ensure the provider continued to support this practice.

Staff were knowledgeable and kind. People and relatives told us how friendly and caring the staff were. Staff enjoyed their work and got on well with the people they supported. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity.

Some of the people using the service at the time of the inspection could not always tell us about their experiences. However, whilst on site, we saw positive interactions between people and staff and people looked comfortable with the way they were being supported. Relatives we spoke with gave us good feedback on the service and the way the staff supported their family members to remain safe. Staff provided responsive care to people in line with their preferences and choices. If people communicated non-verbally staff knew how to engage with them.

People were supported by staff who knew their preferences. Complaints made since the last inspection had been investigated and families knew who to contact if they had any concerns. Relatives and staff were happy with the way the service was being led and there was a clear culture amongst the staff team in providing person-centred care.

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 10 April 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider had submitted monthly reports since the last inspection to show what improvements have been made. At this inspection we found some improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.