Oaklands Care Home

Updated 25 May 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 Care Act 2014.

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Oaklands Care Home 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.

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.

During the inspection process the registered manager went on planned extended leave. The provider had an acting manager in place for this period. We refer to the acting manager as the manager throughout this report.

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. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, registered manager, manager, care workers, activity coordinator and the cook.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We spoke to four relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions.

Updated 25 May 2022

Oaklands Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 28 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 31 people.

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

Quality assurance systems and processes did not always identify concerns we found during the inspection.

Care plans and risk assessments were in place however, some required more detail to guide staff how to support people safely.

People’s medicines were managed safely however, not all ‘as required’ topical medicines had a PRN protocol available at the time of the inspection. PRN protocols did not always include enough guidance to enable staff to administer the medication safely.

Staff were recruited safely but some improvements were required.

People could be confident they were supported by staff who had access to guidance and understood how to keep them safe. Staff’s knowledge of the people they supported was good and they were able to tell us about the risks associated with people’s care and how to minimise these.

People were protected from the risk of infection because staff used protective equipment however, on inspection the providers safe entry processes were not followed when the inspectors arrived.

Incidents were used to identify improvements that could be made to people’s care and support.

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.

People knew how to raise concerns. They had confidence in the registered manager. Incidents and accidents were monitored by the registered manager. Where accidents and incidents occurred in the home the registered manager ensured appropriate action was taken for people to reduce the likelihood of injury or reoccurrence.

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 the service under the previous provider was Requires Improvement, published on 26 June 2019.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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 see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

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