Denecroft Residential Care Home

Updated 20 December 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Denecroft Residential Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care as single package dependent on their registration with us. Denecroft Residential Care 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 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 inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local commissioners and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 4 relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, the compliance manager, a senior care worker and 3 staff members.

We reviewed a range of records, which included 3 people’s care records, medicine records, staff files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 20 December 2023

About the service

Denecroft Residential Care Home is a care home which provides residential care for up to 15 people. The service provides support to older people and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection, 11 people were living at this service.

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

People were very happy with the care provided and felt staff always went above and beyond in delivering the care. Relatives and people felt the service was delivering holistic and compassionate care, which enabled people to enjoy a good quality of life. Staff were passionate about providing good care outcomes and took ownership of their practice.

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. Staff had received a range of training around the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Risk assessments were clear and identified how to reduce the risks to people. Staff were familiar with these documents and the actions they needed to take. The provider was in the process of changing to electronic care records and we discussed how enhancements could be made as staff transferred the paper records to the new system. Medicines management was effective and closely monitored. Staff who administered medicines had the appropriate training. Staff adhered to infection control and prevention guidance.

The management team ensured there was always enough staff to support people. Recently, when more people had needed 2 staff to support them the team had found it difficult to complete the work in a timely manner. The compliance manager had reviewed the provider’s dependency tool to ensure it was far more sensitive at highlighting when more staff would be needed to be on duty. Recruitment practices met legal requirements.

The systems the provider had in place allowed the registered manager to review the service and proactively looked at how improvements could be made. The compliance manager was in the process of reviewing all aspects of the service and had introduced some innovative new practice which embedded a person-centred value base into care practices and ensured staff understood how to provide good quality end of life care. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and listened to their views. People felt the registered manager was running a good service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report published 15 August 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

Follow up

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