Archived: The Cedars and Larches

Updated 5 July 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 3 inspectors.

Service and service type

The Cedars and Larches 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. The Cedars and Larches 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 there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we held about the service since the last inspection and we sought feedback from the local authority. 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 4 people using the service, 4 relatives and 2 healthcare professionals. We spoke with 5 staff members, including the registered manager, deputy manager, nurse, carer and domestic. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. We reviewed a variety of records, including 6 care files and records relating to the management of the service including policies and procedures.

Updated 5 July 2023

About the service

The Cedars and Larches is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 69 people in 2 adapted buildings. The service provides support to older people. Each building is over 2 floors with communal spaces for dining and relaxation. At the time of our inspection there were 54 people using the service.

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

Systems in place to monitor the quality of the service did not always identify gaps in recording of monitoring charts and investigation of accidents and incidents.

The registered manager was focused on developing a positive culture by strengthening the staff team and providing specific competency-based training for people to achieve better outcomes. People were regularly consulted to give feedback on the service; this was used to drive improvements.

Systems were in place to protect people from abuse. Risks to people were regularly assessed and appropriate measures were in place to minimise risk. Staff understood the principles of safeguarding people from the risk of abuse and were aware of how to raise a concern.

There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs. Staff were recruited safely and appropriate checks were completed prior to employment. People received their prescribed medicines safely and staff followed correct infection control procedures.

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 told us they were happy with the support provided to people and staff were professional and friendly. The provider worked alongside other healthcare professionals to support people's care needs.

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 16 October 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to care and treatment. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.