Blenheim Care Home

Updated 31 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Blenheim Care Home is a ‘care home’. 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. Blenheim Care Home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The 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 the inspection there was not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the manager, the operations consultant, senior carers and care workers.

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 a range of records. This included four people's care and support records and their medication administration records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, staff supervision and training. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, accident and incident records, safeguarding records and quality assurance reports.

Updated 31 May 2022

About the service

Blenheim Care Home is a residential care home registered to provide care and support to up to 31 people. The service is split over two floors which were all accessible by stairs or a lift. At the time of the inspection, there were 28 people living at the service. The service does not provide nursing care.

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

Medicines were managed, stored and administered safely. People were supported to take their medicines safely by staff who had received the appropriate levels of training and had their competency regularly checked. Improvements were needed in the recording of topical creams. We have made a recommendation to the provider to ensure current best practice guidance is followed around the recording of topical creams.

People and their relatives told us they or their loved one felt safe living at Blenheim Care Home. People were relaxed and comfortable with staff who knew them well and supported them in ways they preferred.

Staff understood how to identify and report abuse and were well supported in their roles. Staff received regular team meetings, supervision and annual appraisals and completed a variety of training courses to enable them to carry out their roles competently.

Staff told us they, “Loved their job” and appreciated the open, supportive and friendly approach taken by their manager.

There was a robust risk assessment system in place. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were regularly assessed, reviewed and updated. Relatives told us how the service helped people to manage risk. Where appropriate, people and their families were included and involved in their care and support.

Staff were recruited safely. There were enough appropriately trained and experienced staff to support people in ways that suited them.

Cleaning and infection control procedures followed the relevant COVID-19 guidance to help protect people, visitors and staff from the risk of infection. Government guidance regarding COVID-19 testing for people, staff and visitors was being followed.

There was a range of quality assurance measures and checks in operation. These included the provider issuing a questionnaire to obtain feedback from people, relatives, staff and health and social care professionals.

There were also audits of various aspects of the service, any shortfalls found were addressed which helped ensure people were safe. Audits helped identify any areas for improvement, this learning was shared with staff and ensured a process of continual improvement was followed.

Health and social care professionals and relatives we spoke with during the inspection, spoke positively of the management and staff team. They commented they were happy with the service and level of care people received.

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 12 November 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of risks, the care and support people received and the management culture. As a result we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 remained at good based on the findings of this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

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.

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation regarding the recording of topical creams.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.