Abbey Care Village

Updated 4 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

On the first day of the inspection, the inspection team consisted of one 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. Our Expert by Experience had knowledge about people living in a residential environment. One inspector carried out the second day of the inspection.

Service and service type:

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

The home had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This meant they and the provider were legally responsible for how the service was run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

This inspection was unannounced on day one and announced on day two.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications. Notifications are used to inform CQC about certain changes, events or incidents that occur. We requested feedback from stakeholders. These included the local authority safeguarding and commissioning team and Healthwatch England. Healthwatch England is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form providers are required to send us which contains 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 our inspection, we spoke with the regional manager, the registered manager, a deputy manager, head chef, the activity co-ordinator and four staff members. We spoke with five people who used the service and five relatives.

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.

We reviewed documents and records that related to the management of the service, including a range of policies, procedures and guidance used by staff in their role, records of safeguarding, and complaints, audits and quality assurance reports. We reviewed three staff members files and records associated with the management and administration of people’s medicines. We looked at two people’s support plans in detail, a further five support plans for specific information.

Updated 4 July 2019

About the service: Abbey Place provides residential care for up to 38 older people who may also be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 36 people living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service:

People did not always receive a service that provided them with safe and effective care. Some records and stock levels related to medicines management were not always well maintained. Records related to people’s potential risks were not always detailed. Some infection control practices required strengthening. The provider had a quality assurance system in place, but this was not always effective. For example, in relation to record keeping.

Staff had received appropriate induction, had completed mandatory training and supervision was conducted. However, appraisals had not been completed recently. Staffing numbers were sufficient on both days of the inspection and the provider followed safe recruitment procedures. Staff understood how to identify and report any safeguarding concerns.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. People had access to a range of activities and the provider worked with other organisations, to meet people’s needs. The home provided a dementia friendly environment. There was easy access to the garden area which had a ‘village’ feel with many stimulating features.

People and their relatives told us they were happy with the service provided. People’s dignity and privacy were respected, and staff supported people to remain as independent as possible. Staff understood the importance of providing person-centred care and had developed positive relationships with people. Care plans were mostly person-centred and had been updated and reviewed to ensure they reflected people’s current needs.

People received enough to eat and drink and were supported to use and access other healthcare professionals. The culture of the service was open, and people felt able to raise any issues. People and relatives had the opportunity to provide feedback on the service received and there was a system to respond to any complaints.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated Good (report published 5 December 2016). The rating has deteriorated to Requires Improvement at this inspection.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on when the service was registered with the Care Quality Commission.

Enforcement: We identified a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 namely good governance. Please see the ‘action we have told the provider to take’ section towards the end of the report.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through information we receive. Further inspections will be planned for future dates as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

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