The Chace Rest Home

Updated 3 June 2023

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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors 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

The Chace Rest Home 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. The Chace Rest Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

Our inspection visit was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since our last inspection. We gathered feedback from local authority commissioners who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people and 8 relatives to find out what it was like to live at the home. We carried out observations in communal areas to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with 9 members of staff including the registered manager, the human resources co-ordinator, the administrator, 3 care staff, 2 housekeeping staff and the activities co-ordinator. We also spoke with the nominated individual who is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We gathered feedback from 1 external healthcare professional.

We reviewed a range of records which included 4 people’s care records, 5 people’s medication records and 2 staff recruitment files. We also reviewed a range of checks the management team completed to assure themselves people received a safe, good quality service.

Updated 3 June 2023

About the service

The Chace Rest Home is a residential care home providing personal care and accommodation for up to 41 people, some of whom have dementia. There were 38 people living at the service at the time of our inspection.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

People were supported in a way that was person-centred and achieved good outcomes. However, systems to review the quality of care and ensure the good governance of the service were not always effective in driving improvements. Quality assurance processes were being improved upon by the newly registered manager, and they recognised some areas still required development.

Risks around people’s health and well-being had been identified, but records to demonstrate risk management were not always accurately completed. People had their prescribed medicines available to them, although some improvements were required around the management of ‘patch’ medicines and ‘as required’ medicines. The home was clean and tidy, and staff understood their role in minimising the risks of infections spreading.

There were enough staff to meet the needs of people living at the home and staff were on hand and attentive to support people’s physical and emotional wellbeing. Staff were trained in safeguarding and understood their responsibility to protect people from avoidable harm, abuse and discrimination. 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.

Staff were motivated to provide good standards of care and we received positive feedback from relatives about the staff team. The registered manager was establishing and improving practices to support positive outcomes for people and worked with other healthcare professionals to ensure people’s healthcare needs were 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 this service was requires improvement (published 9 May 2019). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last 3 consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Chace Rest Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified a breach in relation to Good Governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.