Lancaster Court Residential Care Home

Updated 19 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 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

This inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

Lancaster Court 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. 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 announced the day before it took place.

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. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who used the service and two family members about their experience of the care provided. We also observed interactions between staff and people living at Lancaster Court. We spoke with the registered manager, care workers and ancillary staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We reviewed staff recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 19 May 2022

About the service

Lancaster Court is a residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 30 people some of whom were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, there were 27 people using the service.

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

People received care and support from the right amount of suitably skilled and qualified staff. People told us there were enough staff to assist them and that they felt safe with staff and trusted them. The recruitment of new staff was safe. Applicants suitability and fitness was thoroughly checked before they were offered a job.

Risk assessments were completed, and measures put in place to minimise the risk of harm to people and others. Regular safety checks were carried out on the environment and equipment. People told us staff provided them with safe care and support.

There were processes for protecting people from the risk of abuse. The registered manager and staff knew the signs and indicators of abuse and the procedures for reporting allegations of abuse to other agencies.

Safe infection prevention and control practices were followed to minimise the spread of infection, including those related to COVID-19.

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.

The culture of the service was positive and inclusive. People received person-centred care and experienced good outcomes.

People, family members and staff were complementary about the way the service was managed, they described the registered manager as supportive and approachable and felt involved and listened to.

The systems used to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service were effective.

There was good partnership working with others to make sure people received joined up care.

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 good (published 27 October 2017).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

We undertook a focused inspection to only review the key questions of Safe and Well-led. Our report is only based on the findings in those areas reviewed at this inspection. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for the Effective, Caring and Responsive key questions were not looked at on this occasion. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

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 stayed the same based on the finding from 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.

During this inspection we carried out a separate thematic probe, which asked questions of the provider, people and their relatives, about the quality of oral health care support and access to dentists, for people living in the care home. This was to follow up on the findings and recommendations from our national report on oral healthcare in care homes that was published in 2019 called ‘Smiling Matters’. We will publish a follow up report to the 2019 'Smiling Matters' report, with up to date findings and recommendations about oral health, in due course.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.