Clement Court

Updated 23 June 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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors, one nurse 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.

Service and service type

Clement Court is a ‘care home’. 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.

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 unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 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 requested information from Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion who gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who use the service and 12 relatives. We spoke with 16 staff which included nurses, care assistants, activities co-ordinator, cooks, domestic staff and members of the management team including the registered manager.

We looked at five care files, four staff recruitment files and numerous records held by the service including quality audits, training data, medication charts, and health and safety records. We spoke with two professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 23 June 2022

About the service

Clement Court is a residential care home providing both personal and nursing care. The home is registered to support up to 80 people in a single adapted building. On the day of inspection, 73 people lived at the home, some of whom were living with dementia. The accommodation consisted of a single building, arranged over two floors. Communal lounges and a large dining room were located on each floor. There were secure outside areas and gardens.

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

We have recommended how the cleaning schedules need to be further enhanced to ensure the home is cleaned and maintained to a high standard. The registered manager has acted on this recommendation.

The mealtime experience was a very sociable event. The food smelt and looked appetising and people told us how much they enjoyed their meals.

Staff used personal protective equipment (PPE) effectively and had attended infection prevention control training.

People told us they felt safe with the care provided and with the carers supporting them. Staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and were confident about how to report abuse.

People told us they did not have to wait long for care and support. Staff told us there were adequate numbers of staff on duty.

Staff were recruited safely, they received regular training and refresher courses.

Medicines were stored and administered in a safe way by suitably trained staff. Quality audits were in place to ensure medicines were safely managed. People were offered and received pain relief medication.

Accident and incident forms were investigated by the management team. Lessons learnt were shared with the staff team.

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.

Relatives told us how people received care from kind and compassionate staff members. They said they felt their family members received person-centred care. People’s needs, choices and preferences were assessed and recorded in detailed care plans. This included people’s dietary needs and requirements.

People’s communication abilities and preferences were assessed and regularly reviewed.

People, relatives and staff told us they felt involved in the service and able to express their opinions, raise concerns and make suggestions to improve the care provided.

Relatives told us they were confident how end of life care and wishes would be respected by staff. They said they were supported by compassionate staff during their family members end of life.

Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and received regular supervisions.

The provider and staff worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to deliver good outcomes for people and ensure their needs were met and reviewed.

There were systems to monitor safety and the quality of the service people received. Regular audits identified improvements to the care provided, these were actioned by the registered manager and the management team.

People, relatives, visiting professionals and staff told us they had confidence in the abilities of the registered manager and felt they were an effective leader.

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 the service under the previous provider was requires improvement, published on 28 June 2019. The service has improved to good.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about monitoring people’s fluid, weight and food intake. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe, effective and caring sections of this full report.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Clement Court 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.