Background to this inspection
Updated
14 May 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
The inspection team was made up of two inspectors, a medicines inspector and an Expert by Experience (who made telephone calls to people’s relatives). An Expert by Experience is someone who has experience of using or having a family member use this type of service.
Service and service type
Kenton Hall Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing with 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 did not have a manager registered with CQC. At the time of inspection, the manager had begun the process of applying to register with CQC.
Notice of inspection
We gave short notice of the inspection. This supported the staff and ourselves to manage any potential risks associated with COVID-19.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We also sought feedback from partner agencies and healthcare professionals. These included the local authority’s contracts and commissioning services, safeguarding and other health and social care professionals.
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 four people living at the service. We spoke with one visiting relative. Where people were not always able to express their views about the support they received, we observed the support provided to them by staff. We spoke with the nominated individual, manager, clinical lead and activities coordinator.
We reviewed a range of records including audits carried out by senior staff. We looked at the governance arrangements for the safe handling of medicines including the provider's policy and audits. We looked at medicine’s records for six people and care records for five people. We also viewed staff records relating to training and competence.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at records relating to medicines, care records, training, quality and staffing which the manager sent to us electronically. We spoke with three further staff members by telephone to gain their views of the service. We spoke with five people’s relatives by telephone. We contacted one social care professional via email.
Updated
14 May 2021
About the service
Kenton Hall Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 60 people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 24 people living at the home. Bedrooms are situated on two floors with people having access to communal lounges and dining areas.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Medicines processes we reviewed were managed safely, with clear oversight in place regarding core processes. Training and competence assessments were up to date. Records were well maintained and staff demonstrated a good knowledge of people’s medicinal needs. The manager and clinical lead were responsive to minor areas of improvement identified on inspection.
Where people were prescribed medicines ‘when required’, some records were more person-centred than others. We have made a recommendation about this.
Activities were varied and were a vibrant blend of group activities and one to one time. The activities coordinator and other staff demonstrated a good knowledge of people’s needs, likes, dislikes and pastimes. Despite the pandemic staff had ensured people’s isolation from their community had been minimised, for instance through charity events, video calls and outdoor spaces/pod for visiting.
Care plans were electronic and contained a good level of detail in people’s records and risk assessments. Some areas contained duplication and a small number of care plans we reviewed would benefit from further review, particularly with regard to end of life care. The manager was aware of this and assured the relevant sections would be reviewed.
Staff spoke positively about the new manager and the atmosphere. The manager had worked closely with local partners to respond to specific issues and to establish clear accountable processes and systems. The nominated individual, manager and clinical lead were responsive to any suggestions made on inspection.
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 requires improvement (published 18 August 2020).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part by notification of a specific incident. Following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident.
The information CQC received about the incident indicated concerns about the management of medicines. This inspection examined those risks.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the full report.
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 improved from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
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.
You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kenton Hall Nursing 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.