The Old Rectory Care Home

Updated 28 July 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 Care Act 2014.

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 carried out by two inspectors. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people and their relatives to ask about their experience of the service. 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 Old Rectory 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.

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. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and three relatives. We spoke with six staff members including the registered manager, deputy manager, administrator and care staff. We reviewed five care and medicine records and three recruitment files. Multiple records relating to the quality, safety and monitoring of the service were reviewed.

Updated 28 July 2022

About the service

The Old Rectory is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 26 older people at the time of inspection. The service can support up to 34 people.

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

A programme of improvement and development was being driven by the new management team, who had been in place since March 2022. We found significant improvements had already been made.

Care planning and risk assessment was clear, concise and provided enough information for staff to care for people. These documents had been updated when people’s needs had changed.

People’s medicines were managed, monitored and administered safely and there were enough staff to provide care to people at the time they required it.

The service was clean and there were appropriate procedures in place to minimise the risk of the transmission of infections including COVID-19.

The new management team had acted upon areas for improvement identified by Norfolk County Council in February 2022. This included improvements to care planning, management processes and the mealtime experience. Further improvements were still in progress.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was good (3 April 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was planned to assess progress with shortfalls identified by Norfolk County Council in February 2022.

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.

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.