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.

Inspection team

The inspection was conducted by one inspector, one assistant inspector and two Expert’s 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

Chetwynd House is a ‘care home;’ providing residential and dementia care. The home consists of three floors. There were five separate care suites, each with its own decorated and furnished lounge, dining facilities and lifestyle kitchen. The ground floor was named ‘Windsor’, the middle floor was named ‘Kensington’ and ‘Buckingham’ the top floor was named ‘Balmoral’ and ‘Highgrove.’ Two of the wings specialised in providing care to people living with dementia. There were a small number of residents cared for in each suite, meaning they benefit from a more intimate care by being looked after by the same familiar faces. Residents were encouraged to live life as they choose with an extensive social calendar that was packed with activities, clubs, trips out and regular entertainment.

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 unannounced.

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 reviewed previous inspection reports, information received from other agencies and statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We completed the inspection over two days. On the first day the inspection team consisted of two inspectors. On the second day the inspection team consisted of two inspectors and two experts by experience .

We spoke with 17 people and eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four care staff, three senior care staff, the cook, the registered manager, the care manager, four senior managers and two visiting healthcare professionals. We looked at the relevant parts of the care records of nine people who used the service. We also looked at four staff recruitment files and other records relating to the management of the home. This included audits, policies and incident records.

After the inspection.

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