Summerdale Court Care Home

Summerdale Court is a residential care home providing personal care and nursing care for up to 60 people. At the time of our inspection there were 38 people using the service. The home has 2 floors, only 1 floor is being used, all residents are on the ground floor, divided into 2 sides.

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

This service has been in Special Measures since October 2022. This meant we found several breaches of regulations. At this inspection we have found the provider had made several improvements in a number of areas. The registered manager has put in place additional new systems, audits and regular meetings for staff, people and relatives to improve the overall service. People and relatives told us they could see a marked improvement in the home and their experiences of care was much better than it had been previously. The home is also going through a refurbishment which has improved the environment significantly.

Although a lot of work has been done to improve not only the environment but the quality of care, it has not been enough to raise the overall rating above requires improvement. We found a continued breach of regulations in relation to the safe management of medicines.

People's medicines were not always managed safely. We found some information about medicine risks was missing. Also, medicine fridge temperatures were not recorded correctly and staff administering medicine was not wearing their “Do not disturb apron”, this meant they had frequent interruptions whilst administering people medicine.

Staff were recruited safely however some gaps were found in staff files. We have made a recommendation about staff recruitment.

The home was clean and was undergoing a refurbishment. People told us they liked all the new changes; people's bedrooms had been newly decorated. People were protected from harm or abuse. Relatives visited the home on a regular basis.

People were supported by trained and confident staff. People told us they liked the food, care needs were assessed and met. People had full access to health care professionals. People told us they were given choices and staff knew them well. People were asked for their permission before staff provided care or support.

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.

People told us they really enjoyed the variety of activities; some people did not always want to take part. People and relatives knew how to make a complaint if needed. People told us staff knew them well and gave them choices.

People and relatives told us staff were kind and caring. People and relatives were involved in care planning and decision making. People's privacy and dignity were protected.

The service had a dedicated management team. People and relatives told us the managers were friendly, approachable and getting things done. Everyone we spoke with praised the refurbishment and how different the home looked. Staff told us they liked working at the home and felt well supported. The management team had made significant improvements to the home.

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 28 October 2022). 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 the provider remained in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 28 October 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements had 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 prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to managing medicine safely at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report. We have made 2 recommendations 1 is about the management of some medicines and the other is about recruitment practices.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Summerdale Court Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

Summerdale Court Care Home is a care home with nursing. It is registered to provide care and support for up to 110 people in one purpose-built building. However, the provider had closed two of the units and limited their capacity to 58, and at the time of the inspection there were 39 people living at the service. The home had one unit which specialised in supporting people living with dementia. The home also had one nursing unit which provided care to people with nursing care needs. Both units were on the ground floor.

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

We identified widespread safety concerns that left people at risk of harm. Risks were not always assessed, identified or reviewed and risk management plans were not always in place to manage risks safely. Care records were not always completed, updated and monitored in line with people’s individual needs. Medicines were not always safely managed. Staff were not effectively deployed to keep the home clean and meet people’s needs in a timely manner. The environment was unhygienic and poorly maintained. Infection control measures were poor and placed people at risk. Potential safeguarding concerns were not always reported to CQC and learning from accidents and incidents was not disseminated to staff to drive improvements.

Staff did not have up to date training. People were not always supported to eat and drink properly, their personal care needs were not always met, and their dignity and independence was not always considered. There was insufficient information in peoples’ care records to support them appropriately with their varying degrees of dementia within the service. People and relatives told us that staff were not always kind and caring. People did not always have end of life care planning in place to identify their end of life preferences. People did not have access to information in ways that would be accessible for them. The provider had not considered people who may have had different communication needs or how to support them. Governance and audit systems were either not in place or were not effective in identifying and reducing risks to people's safety. There was a lack of effective leadership and oversight of the service.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. People had access to healthcare services when required to maintain good health. The provider had a complaints system in place to deal with complaints.

The registered manager had been in post since the beginning of July 2022. The management team had begun to make improvements in the team culture since taking over the service in March 2022, however, these were not yet fully embedded at 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 the service under the previous provider was Requires Improvement, published on 26 January 2021.The new provider registered this service with us on 29 March 2022 and this was their first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the environment, risk assessments medicines, staffing, infection control, cultural needs and the management of the service.

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.

Enforcement

We have identified seven breaches of the Regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, person-centred care, dignity, premises, deployment of staff and good governance.

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

The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service therefore is in 'special measures'. This means we will keep the service under review. 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.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service closely and discuss ongoing concerns with the local authority. We will continue to monitor the service and if we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.