We carried out a review of the data available to us about Abbeygate Care Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Abbeygate Care Centre, you can give feedback on this service.
Abbeygate Care Centre is a residential care home that is registered to provide providing personal care and accommodation for up to 17 older people. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 17 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider had quality assurance systems in place and action had been taken to make improvements. However, a number of issues identified during the inspection had not been picked up by the provider’s audits. Maintenance work that had been identified by the provider had not been completed in a timely manner.
People felt safe and were supported by staff who had received training in how to recognise, report and act on any signs of abuse. Staff were aware of the risks to people and how to manage those risks on a daily basis.
Safe systems of recruitment were in place. A dependency tool was in place to assist the registered manager in ensuring people were supported by sufficient numbers of staff. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed. Accidents and incidents were reported and acted on and analysed for any lessons to be learnt.
Staff felt supported and well trained. New staff benefitted from an induction that included shadowing more experienced members of staff and being given time to get to know people living at the service. Staff supported people to access a variety of healthcare services in order to maintain good health.
Staff were seen to be kind, caring and compassionate in their approach and treated people with dignity and respect. Families felt welcomed and listened to and were positive about the care their loved ones received.
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.
People were involved in the development of their care plans and were supported by staff who knew them well and what was important to them. People had no complaints and were confident that if they raised concerns they would be dealt with appropriately.
People were complimentary of the service and considered it to be well led. Staff felt supported and listened to and were confident any concerns they may raise would be dealt with appropriately.
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 9 March 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.
The provider is required to have a registered manager. 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 in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The previous registered manager had left in December 2016. The provider had interim management arrangements in place which included them working in the home on a daily basis. The registered provider was in the process of recruiting to the role of home manager with the intention of the successful applicant also applying to become the registered manager.
People were protected from abuse by staff who had been trained to recognise and report concerns. Risks to people's safety had been identified and people were supported in a safe way. People were supported with their medicines and took them as they had been prescribed by their doctor. We saw that there were enough staff available to meet people's needs and to keep them safe. Recruitment procedures were in place and checks were carried out on the suitability of new staff to minimise risks to people. .
Staff had a planned induction to prepare them for their role and had training and support to ensure they understood and met people's needs effectively. Staff had been provided with training to enable them to meet people’s needs. People enjoyed their meals and were supported to eat and drink and staff knew who was at risk of choking and how to avoid this. People had access to health care professionals to promote their health and well-being.
People were supported by staff who we saw were patient, caring, and showed a genuine interest in them. People's privacy and dignity was protected and staff encouraged people’s independence.
People were enabled to make decisions about their care and felt that staff knew their preferences and routines. Activity provision was being extended to ensure people had fun and stimulating things to do. People and their relatives had access to a complaints process if they were dissatisfied with any aspect of the service provision.
There was a management team that people and relatives could access if they had the need. The provider had systems in place to regularly check on the quality of the service and these had been effective in identifying where improvements were needed. The provider had plans to make the identified improvements. The provider was obtaining people's views on service provision and was acting on their feedback. The overall governance and leadership of the home was effective in ensuring people had their needs met.