Archived: Greswold House

Updated 2 April 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

Two inspectors carried out this inspection on the 19 February 2019 with one inspector returning on the 20 February 2019.

Service and service type:

Greswold House is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection:

Inspection site visit activity started on 19 February 2019 and ended on 20 February 2019. The inspection site visits on both days were unannounced.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered with us. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as allegations of abuse and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the Provider Information Return (PIR) we require providers to send this to us at least once annually, to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We spoke with seven people, seven relatives, eight staff that included domestic, catering, care and senior staff, two healthcare professionals and the registered manager. We used this information to form part of our judgement.

We sampled seven people’s care and medication records to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included three recruitment files to check suitable staff members were safely recruited and received appropriate training. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures, to ensure people received a good quality service. Details are in the ‘Key Questions’ below.

Updated 2 April 2019

About the service:

Greswold House is a care home that provides personal care for people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 29 people were living there. The home was established over three floors with communal areas that included dining areas combined with small lounge spaces and a large garden.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service had experienced some challenges in the last twelve months which had resulted in a high turnover of care staff and senior staff absent from the home. This meant there had been a lack of clear and consistent oversight of operations. The provider’s governance systems to check the quality of the service provided for people were not consistently effective and required some improvement. The recruitment processes required some improvement. Risk assessments were in place and staff knew how to support people’s individual needs to ensure they provided a consistent level of care. However, some contained conflicting information on how staff should support people and had not always been updated to reflect people’s current support needs.

People and relatives told us they felt the service was safe and there were sufficient numbers of staff to support people. Staff had completed their induction training that included safeguarding, medication, health and safety and moving and handling. Staff had access to equipment and clothing that protected people from cross infection. People’s care and support needs were assessed.

Staff received ongoing training they required to meet people’s needs. People accessed healthcare services to ensure they received ongoing healthcare support. People, as much as practicably possible, had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way.

People were supported by kind and caring staff that knew them well. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity.

People were supported by staff that knew their preferences. Complaints made since the last inspection had been investigated and resolved. People and their families knew who to contact if they had any complaints.

People, their relatives’ and staff members views were sought about the quality of the service being provided. Staff felt supported by the management team.

People, their relatives and staff were happy with the way the service was managed and the provider worked well with partner organisations to ensure people’s needs were met.

Rating at last inspection:

Requires Improvement (report published 20 September 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. At this inspection we found the service had remained Requires Improvement.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.