Lampton House

Updated 20 January 2023

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.

As part of this inspection we 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

This inspection was undertaken by two inspectors on the first day of the inspection and an expert by experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The second day of the inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Lampton House 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. Lampton House is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced on the first day and announced on the second day. The first day of our inspection was on the 30 November 2022 and the second day was on the 9 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service prior to our inspection. The Provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four care staff, the administrator, the registered manager and the provider. We sought feedback from one health professional, but we did not receive a response.

We reviewed a range of records. These included two care plans for people and medicines administration records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, incidents and accidents, fire records, quality assurance records and personal evacuation plans.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 20 January 2023

About the service

Lampton House is a residential care home providing personal care to people. The service provides support to up to 30 people. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people using the service.

People’s experiences of using the service and what we found.

During our first day of our inspection we identified improvements were required to the front door had various locks that could cause a delay if trying to exit in the event of a fire. Four walking frames had missing ferrules. The provider’s quality assurance system had failed to identify these shortfalls found during our inspection. We fedback our concerns to the registered manager and the provider who took action to rectify these shortfalls prior to our visit on the second day.

We also found quality assurance systems had failed to identify shortfalls relating to missing risk assessments where people had creams containing paraffin. Along with grab and go files requiring updating and the provider was not ensuring the rating for the service was being displayed as required.

The provider had a fire risk assessment in place and people had individual personal evacuation plans in place. However, we were not assured during our inspection that the building was safe in the event of a fire. We made a referral to the fire safety team so they could review the building in line with fire safety regulations.

People felt supported by staff who were caring and who knew them well. Staff felt able to raise concerns with the registered manager and the provider through the provider’s whistleblowing procedures. All people, relatives and staff felt the service was a nice place to live.

People, relatives and staff felt the provider and the registered manager were approachable and accessible. The provider undertook regular visits within the service and the registered manager helped when staffing was short.

People were supported to access a GP when required. Staff meetings supported staff with updates and information. Staff had received safeguarding training and the provider and registered manager had recently undertaken level 3 training.

Staff wore personal protective equipment to prevent the risk of cross infection. Improvements were identified on the first day of the inspection with staff not using tongs to offer people biscuits and one person putting their hand into the biscuit tin. This posed an infection control risk, People told us they wanted access to the TV remote so they could change the channel themselves.

Following our inspection, we asked the provider to send an updated statement of purpose for the service. The providers statement of purpose describes what they will do, where they will do it and who they will do it for. We will monitor this action is taken.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Good (published 5 September 2019).

Why we inspected

We decided to inspect due to concerns raised in relation to safeguarding people from abuse and if people were receiving safe care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe and well-led only.

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.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified a breach as the provider’s governance arrangements were not robust and had failed to identify shortfalls in the safe domain of this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and the local authority to monitor the service.

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