Archived: Ryehill Country Lodge

Updated 2 October 2020

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Ryehill Country Lodge 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.

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 we used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and we received feedback from six relatives about their experience of care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior care worker and a care worker. We observed care and support to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two 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 reviewed the provider’s safeguarding policy and records of staff and resident’s meeting as well as communication had with relatives.

Updated 2 October 2020

About the service

Ryehill Country Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 24 people aged 65 and over, some of whom may be living with dementia. 19 people were using the service at the time of our inspection.

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

People benefitted from improvements made to the provider’s monitoring and oversight of the quality and safety of the service.

We found the home to be warm and welcoming and we received positive feedback from relatives about the care their family members had received.

Staff had supported people to remain in contact with their relatives during the COVID 19 pandemic and activities had been arranged within the home to reduce the risk of isolation, including celebrating cultural events.

People received their medicines on time and as prescribed and improvements had been made to the management of people’s creams. Where appropriate, people were supported to administer their own medicines.

Staff kept people safe from the risk of abuse and managed risks to people’s health and welfare.

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 Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 16 October 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. 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 carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 20 and 23 September 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve their governance systems. 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. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this 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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ryehill Country Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.