The Oakes Care Centre

The Oakes Care Centre accommodates a maximum of 60 people; there are accommodation and communal areas located on both the ground and first floor. The home provides care and support to people who are assessed as having personal care and support needs. The first floor provides accommodation specifically for people living with dementia. There were 46 people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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

The management of people’s medication was not consistently safe. We have made a recommendation about the management of stock and varied strengths of medicines. Body maps to show where people’s patches for pain relief should be positioned were not in place. One person had missed medication doses which had not been identified. However, most people received their medicines as prescribed from staff who were assessed as competent.

Daily walkarounds were not consistently happening, but this was being addressed. Systems of governance were in place and found to be effective. People, relatives and staff were engaged in the running of the home and we saw the provider took action in response to their feedback.

People told us they felt safe living at this home. Staff were familiar with safeguarding procedures and felt confident managers would take appropriate action if they reported concerns. Staff were familiar with risks to people and how to reduce risk levels.

There were sufficient numbers of safely recruited staff to meet people’s needs. The registered manager asked people for feedback about staffing levels and no concerns were raised.

Adaptations had been made to the premises to make spaces dementia friendly. The home and equipment used had been well maintained.

Staff received formal support and told us they felt engaged and valued. The interactions between people and staff were seen to be positive. Activities were taking place inside and outside the home.

Clinical risks were understood and discussed at different meetings. Care plans were sufficiently detailed. Referrals had been made to healthcare professionals where this was needed. Two health professionals who visited the home on the day of our inspection provided positive feedback about staff knowledge of people and their needs.

Complaints were suitably managed by the provider who responded to concerns raised with them. We saw where lessons were learned from previous events to help ensure continuous improvement of the service.

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 had a positive mealtime experience and their nutritional needs were being met.

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 good, published on 10 June 2021.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of accidents and incidents, infection control standards and communication within the home. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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, which will help inform when we next inspect.