Field House Residential Care Home for the Elderly

Updated 15 March 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.

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

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Field 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. Field House 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 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 will be submitting an application to register.

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. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who lived at Field House, we also observed the care and support people received in communal areas of the home. We spoke with the manager, a manager from another of the providers home, senior care assistant, care assistant, housekeeper and the chef.

We reviewed a range of records including 3 people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of other records relating to the management of the home, including polices and audits.

Updated 15 March 2023

About the service

Field House Residential Care Home for the Elderly (Field House) is a residential care home. The service provides personal care and accommodation in one adapted building to up to 49 older people, some of whom live with dementia. At the time of the inspection 36 people were receiving the service.

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

Although no one had been harmed, action had not always been taken in a timely manner to keep people safe. Improvements were needed to fire safety and ensuring hot water was provided at a safe temperature. The quality assurance system had not identified these issues so that appropriate action could be taken in a timely manner. After the inspection the provider took action immediately to make the required improvements.

People living in the home and staff all spoke positively about the new manager and the changes they had implemented so far. Potential new staff to the service underwent checks to make sure they were suitable to work with people. Feedback was positive about the staffing levels in the home and people’s needs were met in a timely manner.

Staff were following current government guidance around good infection control procedures. Medicines were being administered as prescribed. Written procedures were in place to advise staff when to administer “When required” medications. Accidents and incidents were being analysed to ensure that themes and trends were identified and the necessary action taken to prevent a recurrence and the recording of this was being improved.

Staff used their training knowledge to safeguard people wherever possible and support people to keep safe from poor care and abuse. If staff had any concerns about people, they knew where to report this both internally and outside of the service. Staff spoke favourably of the management team and stated that they felt supported in their roles.

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.

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 18 May 2022).

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 that although improvements had been made in some areas they were still in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service in March and April 2022. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and quality assurance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to fire safety and quality assurance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.