Background to this inspection
Updated
30 October 2020
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.
As part of this inspection we also looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. 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
The inspection visit was undertaken by an inspector and assistant inspector. Two inspectors supported the planning of the inspection, talking with relatives and staff by telephone and report writing.
Service and service type
Holmer Court Residential 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
Before the inspection visit, we looked at information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included information about incidents the provider must notify us of, such as any allegations of abuse. We sought feedback on the service from the local authority and local Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with six people who lived at the home about their experience of care provided. We also spoke with a relative and a friend of a person who lived at the home by telephone. We saw communication between people who lived at the home and staff together with support provided.
We talked with 10 staff members including the quality and compliance manager, registered manager, deputy manager, housekeepers, activities coordinator, team leader and care assistants.
We looked a range of records. This included sampling four people’s care records, multiple medication records, staff recruitment, safeguarding documentation and accident and incident records.
After the inspection
We spoke with a relative and staff member by telephone. We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. This included looking at staff training data and processes in relation to oversight of governance and quality checking documentation.
Updated
30 October 2020
About the service
Holmer Court Residential Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 33 people aged 65 and over in a large adapted building. It specialises in supporting older people and people who are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, there were 31 people living at the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s safety was promoted by staff who knew how to recognise and report any concerns to keep people safe from harm and systems were used to learn from incidents.
Risks to people's individual health and wellbeing were assessed and their care was planned to reduce the risks. Medicines were stored, administered and disposed of safely.
The provider had established recruitment procedures, so people were not placed at avoidable harm by potential staff who were unsuitable to provide care. There were enough staff to support people's care and safety needs. Staff had received the training they required so people would be supported by staff with the skills needed to provide care and support. People were complimentary about the support staff provided and told us staff knew them well.
Changes had been made to the service during the pandemic to help reduce any risk of infection. We had no concerns about the infection prevention and control practices of staff.
People who lived at the home and relatives did not have any concerns regarding infection prevention and control practices and told us they found the home environment to be clean.
The registered manager had been in post since the last inspection and promoted a culture of positivity and openness. The provider had a clear management and staffing structure in place and staff worked well as a team.
The registered manager was keen to make continual improvements based on feedback from inspections and quality checks. The provider and registered manager had established a range of quality checks which were regularly completed to make sure people continued to receive quality 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 good (published 12 February 2020).
Why we inspected
We received concerns about various aspects of the service. This included unsafe care for people and staff training. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and Well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Holmer Court Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.