We carried out a review of the data available to us about Ashfield House - Raunds on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Ashfield House - Raunds, you can give feedback on this service.
We found the following examples of good practice.
Safe arrangements were in place for visitors to the service including relatives and friends, professionals and others. This included a booking system, rapid LFD testing, showing evidence of vaccination, temperature checks, visitor agreement and sign in process.
Isolation, cohorting and zoning were used to manage the risk of infection spread. This meant people self-isolated in their rooms when necessary and staff were allocated to work in certain areas of the service should anyone test positive for COVID-19.
The layout of the service supported social distancing as there were several lounge and dining areas on each floor. Everyone living in the service had access to their own toilet and shower facilities which reduced the risk of infection spread.
Enhanced cleaning and disinfection of all areas of the service continued to take place to reduce the risk of cross contamination.
There was plenty of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, gloves, aprons and hand sanitiser available. PPE stations were located around the service. Used PPE was disposed of safely in clinical bins. Checks took place to ensure staff maintained good hand hygiene practice and put on and took off PPE properly.
A regular programme of testing for COVID-19 was in place for staff and people who lived in the service. This meant swift action could be taken if anyone received a positive test result.
The staff team worked together to cover any arising vacant shifts, supported by bank staff where needed. Agency staff were sometimes used when essential, and processes were followed to enable this safely.
The registered manager had good oversight of infection prevention and control processes. They undertook regular quality assurance checks. Policies and procedures were in place and up to date, which supported good practice in all areas of infection prevention and control.
Ashfield House – Raunds is a residential care home for up to 40 older people and people living with dementia. At the time of inspection there were 32 people living at the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
There was a registered manager who had been the manager of the service since it registered with CQC in September 2012.
Staff understood their roles and responsibilities to safeguard people from the risk of harm. People were supported to see relevant health and social care professionals.
There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs. People’s medicines were managed in a safe way. People’s risks were assessed at regular intervals or as their needs changed. Care plans informed staff how to provide care that mitigated these known risks.
People received care from staff they knew. Staff had a good understanding of people's needs, choices and preferences. People were encouraged to make decisions about how their care was provided and their privacy and dignity was protected and promoted. Staff gained people's consent before providing personal care.
People were involved in the planning of their care which was person centred and updated regularly. People were supported to express themselves, their views were acknowledged and acted on. There was a complaints system in place and people were confident that any complaints would be responded to appropriately.
Staff were recruited using safe recruitment practices. Staff received training to enable them to meet people’s needs and were supported to carry out their roles.
The management team continually monitored the quality of the service, identifying issues and making changes to improve the care provided.
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.
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 25 February 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 re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People felt safe living in the home. Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. Staffing levels ensured that people received the support they required to keep them safe and recruitment procedures protected people from receiving unsafe care from care staff unsuited to the job. People had risk assessments in place which identified and managed people’s known risks, and appropriate arrangements were in place to manage and store people’s medicines.
People received care from staff that were supported to carry out their roles to meet the assessed needs of people living at the home. Staff received training in areas that enabled them to understand and meet the care needs of each person. People were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). People had their healthcare needs managed in a way that was appropriate for each person and people’s nutritional needs were well supported.
People received support from staff that treated them well and prioritised their needs. People were relaxed and comfortable around staff and staff understood the need to maintain people’s dignity. People were supported to maintain good relationships with people that were important to them and the home had good links with advocacy services to ensure people had the support they required.
Care plans described the support people required and explained people’s preferences and routines. People were given choices about how and where they spent their time and this was respected by staff. There was a complaints procedure in place and people were supported and empowered to make a complaint if they wished to. Complaints were investigated and appropriate actions were taken.
People at the home reacted positively to the manager and the culture within the home supported a warm and friendly atmosphere. Systems were in place for the home to receive and act on feedback and policies and procedures were available which reflected the care provided at the home.
This unannounced inspection took place on 15 October 2014.
Ashfield House provides accommodation for persons who require personal care (without nursing) for up to 40 older people including people living with dementia. On the day of our inspection visit 40 people were living at the home.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered
with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider, they are ‘registered persons.’ Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The staff knew how to respond to behaviours that challenged the service. However risk assessments were not always in place to formally address the behaviours and the systems to review or evaluate people’s behaviour were not robust..
Systems were in place to continually assess and monitor the staffing levels and the staff recruitment systems were robust. The staff training ensured that the staff had the right skills to support people effectively.
The staff cared for people in a, respectful and professional manner. Their actions demonstrated that they knew and facilitated people’s individual care and support needs.
CQC monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), and reports on what we find. DoLS are a code of practice to supplement the main Mental Capacity Act 2005. These safeguards protect the rights of adults by ensuring that if there are restrictions on their freedom and liberty these are assessed by appropriately trained professionals. We found that the manager had knowledge of the MCA 2005 and DoLS legislation. They knew how to make a referral for an authorisation so that people’s rights would be protected.
People were supported to be able to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. People told us they liked the food and they were provided with a variety of meals.
People’s healthcare needs were monitored, and assistance was sought from other professionals so that they were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing.
Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. People’s views were sought on a regular basis to identify improvements needed.
A person who used the service we spoke with told us 'I am really happy here, the staff always have time for me, I cannot praise them enough.'
We found the home to be compliant against the regulations we inspected against.
A visitor we spoke with explained how the manager had helped them come to terms with their relative entering the care home for the first time.
One relative said "I am absolutely delighted with the home, any concerns the staff sort it out everytime, it's clean and the staff are so caring."