Oaklands

Updated 4 March 2021

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

Two inspectors visited the service on 9 December 2020. We limited the amount of time spent at the service to minimise risk. And therefore, asked the manager to send us documentation we needed to look at after the inspection.

An Expert by Experience rang and spoke with family members on 11 December 2020. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Service and service type

Oaklands Care 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 new manager had applied for their registration certificate with the Care Quality Commission. 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

The inspection was unannounced.

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. This information helps support our inspections.

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 all this information to plan our inspection.

Updated 4 March 2021

About the service

Oaklands care home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 53 people aged 65 and over. At the time of the inspection there were 31 people living at the service.

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

When we last visited the service in January 2020, we met a new registered manager. However, when we returned in December 2020, the previous registered manager had left shortly after our inspection, and we were welcomed by another new manager who was in the process of becoming registered with the Commission.

Although the manager had made positive changes since their arrival, these improvements need to be sustained to demonstrate management stability across the service. The feedback we received during our inspection combined a positive view of the new manager, with an anxiety that they would leave.

The manager had started to address the concerns we had raised at our last inspection. They had a practical, person-centred approach which was making a difference to the care people received. Feedback was particularly positive about how well and openly the registered manager was communicating with people, families and staff.

We found care was well-planned and staff minimised risks to people’s safety. The administration of medicines had improved. The care of people at risk of pressures sores had improved.

There were enough staff to keep people safe. The manager was working well with the staff team to improve staff turnover, morale and skills.

People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The manager promoted a person-centred approach to managing restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. They communicated well with people and families to explain restrictions.

Senior staff carried out regular checks on the quality of care and took action which directly improved care standards.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 6 March 2020). The service has made improvements and is now rated as requires improvement.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since May 2020 during this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

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.

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.