The Fountains Care Centre

Updated 25 May 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

Two inspectors carried out the inspection activity on site. An Expert by Experience contacted relatives remotely for feedback on their experiences of the care provided. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

The Fountains Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. The Fountains Care Centre is a care home without nursing care. 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

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information the providers are required to send to us annually with key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who use the service. We observed people and their interactions with staff and each other. We spoke with 14 relatives about their experience of the care provided.

We spoke with nine staff members including laundry assistants, kitchen staff, carers, a senior carer, team leaders, the deputy manager, the registered manager and the operations manager.

We reviewed a range of care records. This included four peoples care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and induction. We reviewed various records relating to the management of the service including health and safety checks and incidents and accidents.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence we found. We looked at training data, staff rota and quality assurance records.

Updated 25 May 2022

About the service

The Fountains Care Centre is a residential care home providing nursing and personal care for up to 45 people. The service supports older people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 35 people using the service.

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

Advice wasn't always sought from a GP or pharmacist when people needed their medicines differently from how it was prescribed. Cleaning wasn't always effective in people's rooms and communal areas. Improvements were needed to staff deployment to promote people receiving consistent support. Staff were recruited safely, were trained and knew how to safeguard people from abuse. The provider supported people to manage their health-related conditions and maintain records.

The provider's systems and processes were not always effective in ensuring infection prevention and control standards and safe medicines management. However, people were treated with dignity and respect, had access to activities and their independence promoted. The provider had systems to receive feedback which enabled continuous improvement.

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 20 November 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to people’s safety, infection prevention and control and the leadership and management of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

The inspection was also prompted in part by notification of a specific incident. Following which a person using the service sustained a serious injury. This incident is potentially subject to an investigation. As a result, this report does not cover the circumstances of the incident.

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 COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Fountains Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.