Archived: Northleach Court Care Home with Nursing

Updated 27 November 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 1 and 4 October 2018 and was unannounced. It included looking at records, talking with people living at the service, talking with staff and phone calls and emails to relatives and health professionals. The inspection was completed by three adult social care inspectors.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed all the information we held about the service since the last inspection in February 2018. This included all statutory notifications and the Provider Information Return (PIR). Statutory notifications must, by law, be sent to us by the provider. These inform us of important and significant events which have happened in the home. We used information the provider sent us in the PIR to help plan the inspection. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually, to give us some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with the registered and quality assurance manager of the service and four members of care staff. We spoke with five people living at Northleach. We spoke with three relatives who gave us feedback on the service provided at Northleach. We spoke with one health and social care professional who has regular contact with the provider.

Updated 27 November 2018

This inspection was completed on 1 and 4 October 2018 and was unannounced.

Northleach Court Care Home with Nursing is better known as Northleach and will be referred to as such throughout this report.

Northleach 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. Northleach accommodates up to 40 people in one adapted building. There were 32 people at Northleach at the time of the inspection.

There was a registered manager in post at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The previous inspection was completed in February 2018. We identified four breaches of regulation at that time in relation to person centred care, the premises, staff training and good governance. At this inspection we found the provider had made improvements and met the requirements of the regulations. However, more time was needed for the planned improvements to the premises to be completed and the provider’s quality assurance systems needed to ensure these works were completed.

The provider told us they were due to retire and Northleach was due to be sold. The provider had informed all people living at the home, their relatives and staff of the proposed plans. Following the previous inspection, we met with the provider and asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key question Well-led to at least ‘Good’ As requested the provider had sent us a written report of the action they planned to take to achieve a rating higher than 'Requires Improvement' to support us to monitor the provider's planned improvements. Significant improvements had been made since our last inspection but improvements to the premises were still required.

At this inspection the registered manager showed us the home’s maintenance plan, they informed us they were currently working through this plan. A number of actions to ensure the safety of the service had been carried out such as some external building work. However, some areas of the home needed refurbishment and could place people who mobilise at risk of slips or falls and still needed to be completed.

There were enough staff deployed to ensure the safety of people. Since our last inspection, the registered manager and provider had taken action to implement two separate care units. This meant staff worked on each unit developing familiarity with the people they assisted. The home had a calm atmosphere. However, during the morning, we identified that some staff were busy and not always available to spend time with people and more staff were being deployed during the morning.

Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed.

Health and safety checks were carried out regularly to ensure the service was safe for people living there.

Risks to people’s health and wellbeing had been identified and assessed. These risks included areas such as moving and handling, mobility, agitation, nutrition and hydration. Assessments were completed where appropriate for people at risk.

The service had implemented a robust training matrix which detailed all staff training and dates of expiry. People were supported by staff who had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs.

People and relevant professionals were involved in planning their nutritional needs. People’s health was monitored and healthcare professionals visited when required to provide support to help meet people’s health needs.

We found the service was working within the principles of the MCA and DoLS legislation.

The service was caring. Care records contained the information staff needed about people’s significant relationships including maintaining contact with family. All of the relatives we spoke with told us they were able to visit when they wanted to and were made to feel welcome by the staff that were on duty.

The service had implemented more robust monitoring systems and the registered and quality assurance manager were responsible for completing regular audits of the service. These audits had resulted in significant improvements being made.