Primrose Care Home

Updated 1 July 2022

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

Two inspectors carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Primrose 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. Primrose Care Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave on the day notice of the inspection to ensure it was safe for us to visit and ensure the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke briefly with six relatives of people using the service. We were unable to speak with people as they were isolating in their rooms due to a COVID-19 outbreak. We spoke with the nominated individual and registered manager. We also received feedback via email from 12 staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records including all people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision, as well as a variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

Updated 1 July 2022

About the service

Primrose Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 22 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people using the service.

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

People were self-isolating as the home had a COVID-19 outbreak when we visited. However, relatives and staff gave extremely positive feedback about the home and felt people were safe. The home had good infection prevention and control practices. Relatives confirmed staff always wore PPE when they visited the home.

Staff knew about the safeguarding and whistle blowing procedures. They felt able to speak up if needed. Enough staff were deployed to meet people’s needs and new staff were recruited safely.

Medicines were being managed safely. Risk assessments were carried out if needed. Incidents and accidents were investigated and action taken to help prevent them happening again.

Staff were well supported and received the training they needed. Relatives and staff gave very good feedback about the management and said they were approachable.

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.

The provider had effective quality assurance system which included checks to help keep people safe. People, relatives, staff and professionals were regularly asked for feedback about the home.

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 18 August 2018).

Why we inspected

We undertook a targeted inspection to review IPC practices at the home. We inspected and found there was a possible concern with gaining people’s written consent for various aspects of their care, so we widened the scope of the inspection to become a focused inspection which included the key questions of safe, effective and well-led.

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.

Follow up

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