Moorlands Rest Home

Updated 1 March 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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Moorlands Rest Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Moorlands 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post, who was also a director in the provider partnership.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed notifications and information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority quality assurance and safeguarding team and other professionals who work with the service. We checked information held by the fire and rescue service, Companies House, the Food Standards Agency and the Information Commissioner’s Office. We checked for any online reviews and relevant social media content of the provider’s website. 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who use the service and 5 relatives of different people. We spoke with 7 staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, 4 care assistants and one cleaner. We also spoke with a visiting healthcare professional.

We reviewed a range of records including 4 people’s care records, 7 people’s medicines administration records and 5 staff recruitment and supervision files. A variety of quality assurance records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures were also reviewed. After the site visit, we continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found and received additional documents and information to inform our inspection. We sought feedback from 9 health and social care professionals who engaged with the service and received 7 responses.

Updated 1 March 2023

About the service

Moorlands Rest Home is a care home without nursing that provides personal care for up to 12 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 9 people living at the service. The care home, which is set in a residential area, accommodates people in one adapted building, arranged over two floors. There was a communal lounge and a communal dining area on the ground floor. There was a garden at the rear of the building.

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

People experienced safe care from staff who understood how to protect them from abuse and avoidable harm. Risks to people were assessed and managed safely, in a manner which promoted their freedom and independence. Enough suitable staff with the right mix of skills, competence and experience were deployed to meet people’s needs safely. Medicines were only administered by trained staff who had their competence to do so regularly assessed by the registered manager. Staff carried out good infection control and food hygiene practices, which protected people from the risk of infection. Staff raised concerns and reported incidents and near misses, to enable the registered manager to take action to reduce the risk of future occurrence.

People’s needs assessments were detailed, identified expected outcomes and were reviewed and updated regularly to reflect people’s changing needs. Staff were supported to develop and maintain required skills and worked well with partners to ensure they followed best practice. People were encouraged to eat a healthy balanced diet and staff effectively managed their identified risks associated with poor hydration and nutrition. The registered manager made timely referrals to relevant professionals and effectively implemented their guidance to achieve good outcomes for people. The registered manager had established a rolling programme of environmental improvements based on recognised guidance, to improve people’s quality of life and promote their wellbeing.

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.

The registered manager and deputy manager were committed to delivering care and support that treated people with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. Staff provided sensitive and respectful care and supported people to take the lead in decisions about their care. The registered manager had ensured people who required support to make certain decisions had suitable advocates appropriately appointed.

People were supported to maintain relationships with those people important to them. Staff actively promoted companionship within the home and enabled people to carry out a programme of activities, hobbies and interests. People were supported to make choices and have as much control and independence as possible. Complaints were dealt with in an open and transparent way and used identified learning to improve the quality of the service. People were sensitively supported to make decisions about their preferences for end of life care. Staff had received additional training to support people living with dementia and those who required end of life care.

The registered manager promoted a person-centred culture where people and staff felt valued. Staff were passionate about their work and the people they supported. The service involved people, their family and advocates in a meaningful way. The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities to be open and transparent when things went wrong and the importance of completing thorough investigations to identify lessons learnt to prevent a recurrence. The registered manager operated robust processes to monitor the quality, safety and the experience of people within the service. Professionals consistently identified partnership working and staff implementation of their guidance to be a strength of the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (report published 10 June 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the date the service was registered.

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.