Archived: Grove House

Updated 11 March 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 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

Grove House 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 that 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 announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We checked the information that we held about the service. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also gathered feedback about the service from the local authority and 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with seven relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, a nurse, two care staff, an activities coordinator, and the maintenance person.

We also reviewed a range of records at the home. These included three people's care records, a sample of medication records, four staff recruitment files and records to staff training and support. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records, staff rotas, accident and incident records and other monitoring records.

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.

Updated 11 March 2021

About the service

Grove House is a ‘care home’. Grove House accommodates 63 people. The service is accredited for intermediate care people who are funded by the NHS. At the time of the inspection 27 people lived at the service, across three separate units, each of which had separate adapted facilities. One of the units specialises in providing care to people living with dementia.

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

People’s relatives told us there were enough staff available to help when needed. Comments included, “There always seems to be sufficient staff when I visit” and “Staff are always available to support my relative, they are very attentive to their care and support needs”. Staff were available to promptly assist people throughout our inspection and staffing levels were regularly monitored, reviewed and amended when needed by the registered manager.

People’s relatives told us the home was a safe place to live. One person commented, “My relative is very happy and I can tell [relative] looks well-groomed and well. They work well with [relative] and manage risks as well. They really invest their time to make sure [relatives] quality of life is good”. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their role in recognising and reporting safeguarding concerns.

We observed a helpful, caring and attentive culture amongst staff at the home. Staff were familiar with the people they were supporting and had a good rapport with them.

Relatives told us they had communication with staff at the home and staff helped them to keep in touch with their loved ones whilst COVID-19 visiting restrictions have been in place. One relative commented, “We' are able to communicate through video calls and we have had window visits too. [Relative] has dementia but for me it’s useful, [relative] is always clean and looks well”.

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 24 January 2020).

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.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion 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.

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.