Cordelia Court

Updated 29 March 2024

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 who made calls remotely to family members. 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

Cordelia Court 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. Cordelia Court 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 not a registered manager in post. However, a new manager had been appointed and had been in post for 7 weeks. They were planning to submit an application to register.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection which included feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us 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.

During the inspection

We observed people who could not talk to us to help us understand their experience of the service. We spoke with 2 people who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care and support provided. We spoke with 7 staff, including care staff, the manager, cleaning staff and deputy manager about their role and experiences of caring for people at the home. We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 peoples care records, multiple medicine records, training records, quality monitoring records, accident and incident records, and multiple records relating to the management of the home.

Updated 29 March 2024

About the service

Cordelia Court is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to a maximum of 34 people in one adapted building. The service provides support to adults under and over the age of 65 who may live with dementia or a sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection visit, there were 30 people living at the home.

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

Risk management associated with people's care needs and the environment continued to need improvement. Risks were not always identified, monitored or acted upon in a timely way to ensure people's safety was maintained. There were some medicine discrepancies that had not been identified and acted upon to show medicines were always managed safely. Staffing arrangements were not always effectively managed to ensure people experienced person centred care. Staff understood their responsibility to report any concerns to protect people from the risk of abuse. However, records relating to incidents and accidents were not always effectively maintained to help identify and act on risks.

Our observations of people and review of comments received about the service confirmed people sometimes did not experience care that respected their privacy and dignity and needs. However, staff were observed to have a caring approach when supporting people and we saw some caring interactions. People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives; however, staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Governance systems, management and provider oversight of the service were inadequate. Systems and processes to monitor the quality and safety of the service were ineffective. Areas needing improvement were not always identified and acted upon in a timely way. Records were either not consistently maintained or were not in sufficient detail to show care and incidents had been safely and effectively managed. Staff were positive in their comments of the manager and felt supported in their roles.

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 requires improvement (published 24 May 2023). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve: safe care and treatment, dignity and respect and good governance. At this inspection we found the provider remained in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 6 and 8 February 2023. Breaches of legal requirements were found. We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe, caring and well led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to inadequate based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care, people’s privacy and dignity and the management of the service at this inspection.

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

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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.

Special Measures

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it, and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions, it will no longer be in special measures.