Oak Park Care Home

Oak Park Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 55 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The care home can accommodate up to 66 people in one purpose built adapted building. Accommodation is provided over three floors with a lift to access each floor.

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

Improvements found at the last inspection had been sustained and people were receiving safe and effective care.

The homes risk framework had improved and risks to people were assessed and managed. There were clear care plans in place to guide staff in how to provide care safely. People were receiving their medicines safely and records were accurate. There were effective systems to monitor incidents and accidents and to make improvements when things went wrong. Staffing levels were safe and recent recruitment had been successful.

The service was homely, and people's bedrooms had been personalised with their own possessions. No complaints had been received and guidance was available to support staff to deal with any concerns.

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.

Staff had received the training and support they needed to care for people's needs. Staff were proactive in ensuring people could access the health care services they needed. People were being supported to have enough to eat and drink and spoke highly of the food available. One person told us, “The food is very good, sometimes they will make me an alternative meal if I don’t fancy what is on the menu. I get lots of drinks and they leave me a jug of juice too.”

People were provided with a good quality service, which was regularly assessed and closely monitored. Any shortfalls identified were addressed without delay and oversight at the home had greatly improved. People provided us with positive feedback about the staff team and the registered manager of the home, who were described as kind, caring and approachable.

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 requires improvement (published 4 February 2020) and there were two breaches of regulations. 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

We reviewed the information and data made available to us about Oak Park Care Home on 25 November 2021 during our Direct Monitoring Call (DMA) with the registered manager. DMA is an approach to monitoring, with clear areas of focus to enable us to continually monitor risk in a service. During this activity we noted improvements had been made and wanted to reassess the service with a comprehensive inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this 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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Oak Park Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 57 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 66 people. The care home accommodates up to 66 people in one purpose built adapted building. Accommodation is provided over three floors with a lift to access each floor. A new registered provider took over this home and registered the location with CQC on 7 November 2019.

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

People were supported by staff who were able to recognise and act upon abuse. People told us they felt safe at the service and their relatives confirmed this. Some improvements were required in how the service assessed and managed risk, as records in relation to the assessment of risk and the necessary control measures were not complete or detailed.

Medicine management procedures were in place. Most staff were appropriately trained, and their competency levels checked.

People’s safety was enhanced by a modern well-maintained building. Robust health and safety checks were in place with the relevant up to date certificates.

People who had restrictions on their liberty had been referred to the relevant authorities. 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. Mental capacity assessments were not decision specific and best interest decisions making didn't follow best practice although staff knew they needed to act in people’s best interests. We have made a recommendation the provider considers current guidance on MCA and best interest decision making.

People were encouraged to participate in a range of different activities and the home employed a creative activities coordinator. Some people wanted more activities, including within the home and out of the home. We identified short periods during the day when care staff could support people with meaningful occupation to enhance their wellbeing. We have made a recommendation the provider considers current guidance on meaningful occupation and wellbeing.

Staff were recruited safely, and all the necessary checks were in place. People reported staff were very kind, caring and polite and we saw they treated people with respect whilst upholding their dignity. Complaints were reviewed and responded to in line with company policy although the home received very few complaints.

People liked the food and were offered a choice of food options. People's weight was regularly taken and action was taken when there was concern about weight loss in line with the registered provider’s policy.

We received very positive feedback about the support people received when they needed care at the end of their lives. Staff were described as exceptional in the support they provided to both the person and their relatives.

The new provider had only recently taken over the service. They were yet to complete their own audit of the service and fully implement their own systems and processes. We found areas which needed to improve during our inspection, but there was a real willingness by the management team at the home to drive improvements at the service and a commitment to make this happen.

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 22 June 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified two breaches in relation to the assessment of some risks to people’s wellbeing and care records at this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.