Castle Bank Care Home

Updated 24 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 31 January and was unannounced.

Updated 24 February 2022

About the service

Castle Bank is a residential care home providing personal care to 17 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. Nursing care is not provided. The service can support up to 28 people.

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

People told us they received safe care and were happy living there. Medicines were managed safely. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. Safe recruitment procedures were in place, but recruitment records required further improvement. The home was clean and had recently been refurbished to a good standard.

Staff sought people's consent before providing 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. Staff training in key areas was up to date. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet.

People were treated with kindness and compassion. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity and people were supported to be as independent as possible. Staff had built positive and caring relationships with people.

People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs and preferences. It was clear from our conversations with staff they knew people's needs well. People were supported to engage in activities to reduce their risk of social isolation. People knew how to make a complaint, although nobody we spoke with had any.

There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided. People's feedback was sought regularly and acted upon. We received positive feedback about how the service was managed.

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 good (published 1 April 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the safety of the environment while refurbishment work was underway. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe section of the 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.