Royal Court Care Home

Updated 10 March 2020

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors (one inspector was present for two hours) 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.

Service and service type

Royal Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the CQC. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager was also the nominated individual (the nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider).

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. 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people and six visiting relatives for their feedback about the service. We also spoke with a director and six members of staff including the registered and deputy managers, a senior care worker, two care workers and a kitchen assistant. We spent time in the communal rooms observing care and staff interactions.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at one staff recruitment file and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, supervision, policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 10 March 2020

About the service

Royal Court Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 20 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of this inspection, 16 people lived at the service.

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

People were happy and well supported. The home provided a safe place for people to live and enjoy their lives. Staff were kind and caring and had developed positive relationships with people. Staff treated people with respect and maintained their privacy and dignity.

Staff had a good understanding of people’s care and support needs. Staff were aware of risks to people and knew how to keep them safe. People received their medicines safely and had access to healthcare services. Most people were happy with the choice and quality of the food, and said they received plenty to eat and drink. The management team were continuing to improve the variety of meals provided.

There were mixed views about the temperature of some rooms in the home and the registered manager acted during the inspection to monitor this more closely to ensure people’s choices and needs were met. There was an ongoing refurbishment plan which included improvements to make the environment more dementia friendly.

Support was provided by a consistent team of staff who were visible around the service. Staff were recruited safely, well trained and received suitable support. People's diverse needs were assessed and respected. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager promoted the visions and values of the service by embedding an open and person-centred culture. Systems were in place to continuously monitor the service and we made some suggestions to update aspects of the audit programme. People and staff told us the management team were approachable. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (last report published 11July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.