Ganarew House Care Home

Updated 12 January 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.

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Ganarew house 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 service had a manager in post who had applied to register with the Care Quality Commission. This means the provider is 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 and took place on 16 December 2020.

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 also requested feedback from Healthwatch to obtain their views of the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We looked around the premises, observed the interactions between people living at the service and care delivery provided at the service.

We spoke with seven members of staff including the manager, deputy manager, senior care workers, care workers, housekeeping and the chef. We spoke with one visiting health professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and a sample of medication records. We looked at six staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at accidents, incidents, complaints and quality assurance records. We spoke with four relatives about their experience of the care provided.

Updated 12 January 2021

About the service

Ganarew House provides care and support for up to 37 people and specialises in caring for people with dementia. There were 32 people living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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

People were cared for by trained staff that knew them well and how to keep them safe from avoidable harm. Risks were assessed so staff knew what action to take to keep people safe. Recruitment processes were safe, checks were carried out to ensure only people of suitable character were employed. People received their medicines as prescribed and systems were in place for the safe management and supply of medicines. We checked infection control procedures within the home and processes were in place to keep people safe. Incidents and accidents were investigated, and action taken if required.

Relatives spoke highly of the staff and management team and the care provided. Staff told us communication had improved and relationships were positive. There were effective quality monitoring systems in place. A variety of audits were carried out meaning any shortfalls were quickly identified and used to drive forward improvements.

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 02 May 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines, staff training and infection prevention and control procedures. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained 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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. 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 Ganarew House Care 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.