• Care Home
  • Care home

Abbot Care Home

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Partridge Road, Harlow, Essex, CM18 6TD (01279) 452990

Provided and run by:
Abbot Care Centre Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 19 October 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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 team consisted of 3 inspectors, a specialist nurse advisor and 2 Experts 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

Abbot Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Abbot Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection the registered manager had just transferred to another service and there was a new manager in post. The manager was in the process of changing their registered manager application to Abbot Care Home. We will assess this application in line with our usual processes.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 29 August 2023 and ended on 4 September 2023. We visited the location’s service on 29 August 2023 and the 4 September 2023.

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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 20 people who used the service and 14 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 19 members of staff including the manager, regional operations director, care managers, nurses, care, and agency staff. We spoke with 1 external healthcare professional who frequently visits the service for their feedback. We reviewed a range of records. This included 11 people's care records and multiple medicine records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision, 5 agency files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

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

Overall inspection

Requires improvement

Updated 19 October 2023

About the service

Abbot Care Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 117 people some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 102 people using the service. The service is set across 3 floors in 1 adapted building.

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

Our visit on the 29 August 2023 found poor infection prevention and control (IP&C) practices relating to the cleanliness of the premises and equipment which needed to improve. The provider took immediate action. Our follow up visit on the 4 September 2023 confirmed action had been taken to prevent the spread of infection and ensure the premises were clean, uncluttered and equipment removed.

Although the provider had taken immediate action to address the issues above, the governance systems were not always being used effectively to identify and drive the required improvements. The IP&C audit had not identified the issues we found during the inspection.

People received their medication on time by qualified nursing staff and were generally managed safely, however we did find the providers medication audit had not identified the issue we found, relating to some liquid medicines being past their date of expiry when opened.

Risk management was not always effective. Risks were identified, however controls in place were not always followed effectively and some people’s information was consistent across their care plans. We have made a recommendation about the management of risk assessments.

The majority of people and their relatives felt there were not enough staff and staff did not have enough time to spend with them. People told us they felt safe. There were appropriate policies and systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Safe recruitment systems were in place to ensure staff were suitable to work with people.

People generally enjoyed the meals provided; however, improvements were required to ensure the dining experience was a positive time for all.

Staff were positive about the new manager at the service. There was a complaints procedure in place and complaints were being responded to.

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.

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 11 December 2021).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the safe care and treatment of people using the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

At our last inspection we recommended risk assessments for people should be more personalised, kept up to date and be more robust. At this inspection we found although the majority of risks assessments we reviewed had been updated we found the information was not always consistent across people’s care plans. Further improvements were required to ensure people's information was current and triangulated throughout their care plans.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of 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 COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Abbot Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to staffing and good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.