Bletchley House Residential Care and Nursing Home

Updated 10 May 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 an inspector, a medicines inspector, 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. One inspector visited the service on the first day, the medicines inspector visited the service on the second day. The Expert by Experience contacted relatives via telephone to gather feedback.

Service and service type

Bletchley House 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. Bletchley House 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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager was in post and was in the process of submitting their application to register.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 3 people living in the service. We also spoke with 11 relatives about their experience of care and support provided. We observed people and their interaction with staff and each other throughout the inspection visit. We also spoke with 7 members of staff including the manager, the quality support manager, the maintenance person, and care staff.

We viewed a range of records. This included 5 peoples care records and associated risk assessments. The medicines inspector reviewed 16 medication administration records (MAR) and 10 medicine care plans. We looked at 4 staff recruitment files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including health and safety records, risk assessments, staff rotas and service audits were examined.

Updated 10 May 2023

About the service

Bletchley House residential care and nursing home, is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 44 people. The service provides support to people over and under 65. At the time of our inspection there were 28 people using the service.

Bletchley House accommodates up to 44 people across 2 floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One of the floors specialises in providing nursing care.

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

Medicines were not always stored safely.

Care plans contained comprehensive information however, risks associated with anticoagulants were not always documented in the care plans.

The provider did not always ensure people were provided with opportunities to do the things they wanted.

People told us staff were attentive to their needs. Staff were recruited safely and received appropriate training for their role.

Staff followed all necessary infection prevention measures. Staff wore appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and received training in infection prevention and control.

The provider had systems in place to share any learning within the service. Improvements had been made following our previous inspection.

The provider and manager actively sought feedback from everyone involved with the service and had developed action plans to address any shortfalls and make improvements.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives, 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 and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 13 May 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. 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 inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last 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.

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 remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

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

Follow up

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