Archived: Castle Dene

Updated 11 September 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors on the first day and one inspector on the second day.

Castle Dene is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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. The registered manager was not available during our inspection, but alternative management arrangements had been put in place to oversee the quality and care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced on the first day and announced on the second day.

What we did before the 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. We also spoke to local commissioners and safeguarding teams to gather feedback from their experience of the service. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

During our inspection we spoke with five people who used the service and six relatives. We spoke with the operations manager, seven care staff, activities co-ordinator, chef, administrator and two housekeeping staff. We also spoke with the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed five people’s care files and discussed them with staff to check their accuracy. We checked three staff files, care records and medication records, management audits, meeting records and the complaints log. We walked around the building observing the safety and suitability of the environment and observed staff practice.

Updated 11 September 2019

About the service

Castle Dene is a residential care home for older adults. some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 41 people living at Castle Dene. The service can support up to 50 people. Accommodation is provided over two floors and has a range of communal facilities including lounges, dining areas, specialist bathrooms and accessible gardens.

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

People and their families felt care was safe. They were supported by staff who understood how to recognise and act upon concerns of abuse or poor practice. When staff were recruited checks had been completed to ensure they were suitable to work in care. Risks to people were known and actions in place to minimise avoidable harm. Staff followed safe practices to protect people from preventable infections. People received their medicines safely by trained staff who had their competencies regularly checked.

People received care from staff who had completed training that enabled them to carry out their roles effectively. Staff worked with health and social care professionals to ensure positive outcomes for people. People had access to healthcare for both planned and emergency events. People’s dietary needs were understood by both the care and catering teams. Meals were well-balanced and provided lots of choice.

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 treated with kindness and supported emotionally by staff who knew them well. Staff understood people’s individual communication skills which meant enabled people to be involved in decisions about their care. People had their dignity, privacy and independence respected by the staff team.

People received person centred care that recognised their diversity and was responsive to changing needs. A complaints process was in place that people and their families were familiar with; they felt they would be listened to if they raised a concern. People had an opportunity to discuss and plan their end of life wishes.

The culture of the home was open and transparent with visible leadership and teamwork. The management team understood and met their legal obligations to be open and honest when things went wrong such as contacting family following an accident or incident. People, their families and the staff team through regular meetings had opportunities to be involved in the development of the service. Quality assurance systems were effective at monitoring standards of care and actioned identified improvements in a timely way.

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 22 February 2017).

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.