Youell Court

Updated 3 July 2021

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.

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 conducted by three inspectors.

Service and service type

Youell Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave very short notice from the car park when we arrived to check the homes COVID-19 status before entering.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the area manager, the registered manager, the head of care, a team leader, care workers and the laundry assistant. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, and quality assurance records.

Updated 3 July 2021

About the service:

Youell Court provides accommodation and personal care for up to 40 older people. At the time of our visit 35 people lived at the home. Accommodation is provided in a purpose-built home across three floors. One floor provides specialist care to people who live with dementia.

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

People felt safe and received their care and support from staff who understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of harm. The management of medicines and risks associated with people’s care and the environment had improved. This demonstrated lessons had been learnt. Staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient staff available at the times people needed them. The prevention and control of infections were managed in line with government guidance and the provider procedures.

Improved management oversight ensured checks of the quality and safety of the service were effective. People and relatives were very satisfied with the service provided and the way the home was managed.

The provider and registered manager understood their regulatory responsibilities. Staff felt supported by the registered manager who had developed an open and inclusive culture within the home and led by example. Partnerships working and feedback from people, relatives and staff was used to further enhance people’s experiences of the service provided.

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 10 May 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We looked at the key questions of safe and well led. Ratings from our previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions we did not look at were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

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 until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.