The Gardens Care Home

Updated 7 January 2021

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 coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 8 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 7 January 2021

The Gardens is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during the inspection.

The Gardens accommodates up to 60 older people in one building. People are accommodated over one ground floor. The service provides residential care. On the day of our inspection there were 52 people using the service.

The inspection took place on 12 April 2018 and was unannounced. This meant staff did not know we were visiting.

We last inspected The Gardens in February 2016 and rated the service as ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’.

The service had a registered manager who was on duty during the course of our visit. They had worked at the service for many years. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff and the management team understood their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding and staff had been trained in safeguarding adults. People we spoke with and their relatives told us they felt safe at the home. We saw the registered manager had shared learning within the staff team from safeguarding occurrences that occurred at the service.

People’s needs were assessed before they came to live at the service. We saw care plans were in the process of being changed to a new more personalised format. Where potential risks had been identified an assessment had been completed to keep people as safe as possible. Health and safety checks were completed and procedures were in place to deal with emergency situations.

The home was clean, and we saw staff followed good practice in relation to wearing personal protective equipment when providing people with care and support. The environment was homely, clean and accessible.

Medicines were managed safely. We saw medicines being administered to people in a safe and caring way. People confirmed they received their medicines at the correct time and they were always made available to them.

We found there were sufficient care staff deployed to provide people’s support in a timely manner. We saw that recruitment checks were carried out to ensure that staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. People told us their needs were attended to promptly.

Staff received the support and training they required. Records confirmed training, supervisions and appraisals were up to date.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Some records were lacking regarding best interest decisions but these were immediately updated by the registered manager following our visit.

People gave positive feedback about the meals they were served at the home. People received the support they needed with eating and drinking by the kitchen team who were trained in the support of people with nutritional needs.

We saw people’s healthcare needs were well monitored and records in relation to the monitoring of people’s health, nutrition and pressure care were recorded.

People were supported by care staff who were aware of how to protect their privacy and dignity and show them respect at all times.

An activities coordinator provided a range of activities within the home and support for people to access the community.

People and staff were very positive about the management of the home. Many staff had worked at the service for a number of years and this added to the feeling of a caring, well-run home.

The provider had an effective complaints procedure in place. People who used the service and family members were aware of how to make a complaint. Feedback systems were in place to obtain people’s views about the quality of the service. We saw a suggestion book was in place and surveys had been recently carried out.

There was a robust quality assurance programme in place managed by a quality assurance manager who worked alongside the registered manager and staff team.

The service had good links with the local community and local organisations as well as external professionals.