East Croft Grange

Updated 10 December 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. 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 team consisted of two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who has used this type of service.

Service and service type

East Croft Grange 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

Our planning considered information we held about the service. This included information about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse allegations. We looked at records of complaints and how the service responded to them.

We used 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 spent time in each unit and in communal and dining areas speaking with people and observing their daily activities and staff interactions. We reviewed records relevant to the running and quality monitoring of the service, the recruitment records for all new staff employed since the last inspection and new policies and procedures. We looked at staff training and supervision records. We looked at care records and the records of medication administration, medicines storage and management. We also checked the building to ensure it was clean, hygienic and a safe place for people to live.

We spoke with 12 people who lived at East Croft Grange,16 visitors and relatives, seven members of care and ancillary staff and two visiting health care professionals for feedback on their experiences of the service. We spoke with the registered manager, who was present throughout the inspection and the deputy manager.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. This included training data, maintenance records and fire risk assessments. This was received after the visit and the information was used as part of our inspection.

We obtained further feedback following the visit from people who lived in the home, relatives, professionals and external agencies who regularly came in to contact with the service and the people who lived there who were not available during the inspection. They contacted us by email after the visit to give us their experiences of the service.

Updated 10 December 2019

About the service

East Croft Grange is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care up to 31 older people within two units. One is a self-contained unit called the Garden Unit that accommodates up to 10 people living with dementia. This part of the home has its own secure garden area for people to use. All rooms in the home are single occupancy and there are suitable shared facilities. At the time of the inspection there were 31 people living in the home.

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

The provider had safeguarding systems and risk assessments to protect people from the risk of abuse or unsafe care. Staff were aware of the procedures and their use. The provider had policies and procedures to support safe recruitment of staff and had enough appropriately trained staff on duty throughout the day and night to make sure people received the support they needed. People received their medicines safely.

People received support to maintain good nutrition and hydration in line with their personal choice and their healthcare needs. Staff worked collaboratively with other agencies and professionals to support people’s health and well-being. 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.

The service was consistently focused on providing person-centred care and support and staff displayed kindness, caring and great empathy towards people and made sure their dignity was maintained, their beliefs upheld and their independence promoted. Staff had developed very trusting and mutually respectful relationships with people, knew them in detail, including their histories, families, likes and dislikes. Staff supported people to express their views and ideas and be actively involved in making decisions about their care and how their home was run. People's communication needs were thoroughly assessed and understood by staff

People received exceptionally responsive, compassionate and holistic end of life care at East Croft Grange from highly motivated and well-trained staff. People were supported to say what they wanted, be clear about expectations and able to be cared for by people they knew and trusted. There was an excellent range of activities and opportunities available to people and the service was exceptional at helping people achieve positive outcomes, build confidence, independence and help develop and pursue interests and social inclusion. Staff responded to the social and daily needs of people by providing meaningful activities, having regularly reviewed plans of care and by acting quickly upon any concerns raised.

Governance and quality assurance systems and monitoring were evident within the service. Quality assurance surveys were all very positive. Staff felt valued and respected by the management team, and consistently demonstrated high levels of commitment and morale. The leadership of the service promoted a positive, open culture. The registered manager was open and transparent throughout our inspection and it was evident that the ethos of the home was to promote a transparent approach in all they did. The registered manager displayed knowledge and understanding around the importance of openness and working closely with other agencies and healthcare professionals to make sure people had good care.

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 (published 21 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.