Aspen Lodge Residential Care Home

Updated 16 October 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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

Aspen Lodge Residential Care Home 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 registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means they and the provider are 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. However, we gave the service notice of the inspection on our arrival in the carpark. This was because we had to gather information on the home’s current COVID 19 status and the providers procedures for visiting professionals.

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 asked the local authority and Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality. 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 spoke with four people who used the service and one relative. Additionally, we spoke with nine staff members including, the cook, three care staff, senior carer, two deputy managers, registered manager, and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with a visiting healthcare professional and spent time in the communal areas with people to help us better understand their experience of care.

We looked at the care and support plans for three people and several documents relating to the monitoring of the location including medicines, health and safety checks. We confirmed the safe recruitment of two staff members.

After the inspection

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

Updated 16 October 2021

About the service

Aspen Lodge Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care in one building to 21 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection, some of whom were living with dementia. The service can support up to 25 people.

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

People were protected from the risks of abuse and ill treatment as staff understood how to recognise and respond to any concerns raised with them. The provider had systems in place and understood how to raise concerns to other agencies.

People had risk assessments in place which contained relevant information to inform staff members how to support them safely.

People were supported to have their medicines as prescribed by staff who were trained and assessed as competent to safely support them.

People were protected from communicable illnesses as staff members followed the latest guidance for infection prevention and control.

People were supported by enough staff to safely and promptly support them. The provider followed safe staff recruitment practices.

The provider had made appropriate notifications of incidents and significant events to the Care Quality Commission.

People and staff found the management team to be supportive and approachable.

People were asked for their opinions and comments on the care and support they received.

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 requires improvement (published 19 March 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations associated with the key questions safe and well-led.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 26 January 2021 where breaches of legal requirements were found. We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which we previously rated as requires improvement.

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 the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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 changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Aspen Lodge Residential 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.