Coniston House

Updated 5 February 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 the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control. We received information of concern about visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had 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 visit took place on 13 January 2022 unannounced. We followed up to corroborate our findings with calls to three relatives on 17 January 2022.

Updated 5 February 2022

About the service

Coniston House is a care home providing personal care up to 27 older people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people living in the service, some of these people were living with dementia.

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

The provider and registered manager’s governance systems were not robust enough to give an overall view of the service and how it was assessed, monitored and how ongoing improvements were being implemented. The registered manager told us they were addressing this after our inspection.

People were receiving a service where the risks to their daily living were assessed and mitigated to reduce the risks of avoidable harm and abuse. There were systems in place to reduce the risks to people, this included with safe medicines management and infection control. There were enough staff working in the service to provide people with the care they needed.

Staff were safely recruited, trained and supported to meet people’s needs. People’s needs associated with their dietary and health needs were assessed and met. 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. The environment was suitable for people using the service.

People were provided with a caring service. Staff knew people well and spoke with and about people in a compassionate way. People’s rights to privacy, dignity and independence were promoted and respected.

People’s individual care needs were assessed, planned for and met. People’s decisions about how they wanted to be cared for, including their end of life decisions where people had chosen to discuss this, were documented. There was a complaints procedure in place and people’s concerns and complaints were acted on and addressed.

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 16 August 2018).

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.