Scaleford Care Home

Updated 12 April 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 1 February 2022 and was unannounced.

Updated 12 April 2022

Scaleford Care Home provides residential care for up to 32 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of this inspection there were 15 people living in the home. Scaleford Care Home is a large property with a variety of communal areas. The first floor is accessed via a stairlift.

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

People living in Scaleford Care Home told us they were happy with their care and enjoyed living in the home. Staff told us they enjoyed working in the home and felt they were part of a family.

Relatives told us they felt their relations were safe in the home. We found people had not always been safe. Two people had moved into the home without proper pre-admission or risk assessments being completed. One person, known to be at high risk of falls was in a bedroom with uneven floor coverings. There was a risk they would trip when mobilising. Some bedroom furniture had broken handles which could injure people.

Staff received regular training and supervision, people told us the staff knew how to support them.

The service had not always been well-led. There had been a lack of oversight by the registered manager and provider. In part this had been related to them working remotely during the pandemic. All staff we spoke with said it would be better if the registered manager was on site.

Rating at the last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published January 2020) there were breaches of the regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. We returned to inspect to review the safe and well-led domains to check whether enough improvement had been made. During the inspection, we identified concerns in relation to the effective domain and extended the inspection to include this. At this inspection the service remained requires improvement overall and has deteriorated to inadequate in the well-led domain. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

We looked at infection prevention and control (IPC) 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.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified continued breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. We have identified a further breach in relation to person-centred care. 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 meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the 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.