Chilton Meadows Care Home

Updated 10 May 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors, a medicines inspector who specifically looked at the safe management of people's medicines, and an Expert by Experience. Following our visit on site an additional Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people’s relatives to seek their feedback. 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

Chilton Meadows is a ‘care home’ with nursing care. 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. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. There was, however, a new manager in post at the service who had applied to register with the Care Quality Commission at the time of our inspection visit. The previous registered manager had left the service in January 2020.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 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. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 people who used the service and nine relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also had contact with 15 members of staff, the manager and two regional managers.

We observed people's care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed a range of records. This included people's care records and medication records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

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

Updated 10 May 2022

About the service

Chilton Meadows Care Home is a care home providing accommodation, nursing and personal care for up to 120 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia and/or have nursing needs. People are accommodated across three buildings named Beech House, Munnings House and Gainsborough House. At the time of our inspection there were 66 people using the service.

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

The service had experienced challenges recruiting permanent staff. As a result, the staff team was running on a high level of agency staff who were not always familiar with people’s needs. People and their relatives also reported challenges with communicating with some agency staff.

Risks to people were not always assessed and mitigated. Systems and processes had not always ensured effective managerial oversight or identified potential risks to people's safety. Improvements were needed to ensure the consistent safe management of medicines.

People were protected from the risk of abuse; staff received training and knew how to recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns. People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely and in line with recommended guidance.

Staff used personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriately and understood the importance of good hand hygiene. The home was clean and free from malodour. Visitors were screened and tested before entering the building to prevent the risk of infection from COVID-19.

Since our last inspection, the provider had implemented new care plans, risk assessments and checks on the quality of the service and the oversight of the service, overall, had improved. These improvements need to be fully embedded into day to day practice to ensure consistent safe and well-led care.

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 23 August 2021).

This service has been in Special Measures since 23 August 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made, despite still being in breach of the regulations. 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

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 and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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.

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 reports’ link for Chilton Meadows on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified a breach of the regulations in relation to the safe management of people’s medicines. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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.