Hazel Bank Care Home

Updated 25 January 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors, a medicines inspector, and an Expert by Experience. 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

Hazel Bank Care Home 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. Hazel Bank Care Home is a care home with 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought 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 looked around the service and observed care and support in communal areas. We spoke with 4 people and 6 relatives about their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with care staff, a nurse, the cook, the activity coordinator, and the registered manager. We also spoke with the nominated individual and the executive director of operations. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with 1 health care professional who visited the home regularly. We looked at records including 8 people's care records and multiple medicines records. We reviewed 3 staff files in relation to recruitment, training, and supervision. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the home including audits, meeting records and policies.

Updated 25 January 2024

About the service

Hazel Bank Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 39 people. The service provides support to older people and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 20 people using the service.

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

The provider had taken positive action to address the issues from the last inspection. They had made improvements to the way the quality and safety of the home was monitored. This meant people’s experiences of the care and support provided had improved.

Improvements were required to how staff were recruited. We have made a recommendation the provider reviews their systems for monitoring checks in line with good practise guidance. There were enough staff to keep people safe and they had the skills and experience to support people appropriately. Staff were kind and caring and they demonstrated commitment to providing person-centred care for people. We saw people and staff had warm and trusting relationships.

Care plans contained person-centred information and risks relating to people’s health, safety and welfare were assessed. Medicines were generally administered safely but improvements were required to how some topical medicines were managed. We have made a recommendation the provider reviews how this is monitored. The home worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to ensure people’s needs were met. Staff supported people with their nutritional needs .

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. We found improvements were required to ensure where capacity assessments and best interest decisions were required, they were completed robustly. We have made a recommendation the provider reviews the guidance and training for staff in relation to the Mental Capacity Act.

The registered manager was approachable and visible. They had initiated changes which had led to a range of improvements for people and staff. There were a range of audits and quality checks in place, which included increased oversight from the provider. People, relatives, and staff provided consistent positive feedback about the improvements at the service since the last inspection. The provider was responsive to feedback throughout the inspection and demonstrated their commitment to ongoing improvement.

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 inadequate (published 2 June 2023) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider reviewed systems and processes to monitor the deployment of staff and how people’s nutrition and hydration intake was monitored. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendations and made improvements in both these areas.

This service has been in Special Measures since 2 June 2023. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. 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 inadequate to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘All inspection reports and timeline’ link for Hazel Bank Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made recommendations the provider reviews the guidance and training for staff in relation to the Mental Capacity Act and improves their staff recruitment checks. We have also made a recommendation they review how they monitor the safe use of topical medicines.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.