Victoria Care Home

Updated 28 April 2023

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.

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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Victoria 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. Victoria Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

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 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 sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 4 family members about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 16 members of staff including the regional manager, regional support manager, registered manager, nurses, care workers, chef, and the maintenance person.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We spoke with 2 visiting health and social care professionals on the telephone to gather their views about partnership working and the quality of care provided.

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 28 April 2023

About the service

Victoria Care Home is a residential care home registered to provide personal and nursing care for up to 53 people. The home supports people aged 65 and over, some of whom were living with dementia. The home is divided into 2 units with 1 unit on the ground floor and 1 unit on the first floor. At the time of this inspection 44 people were living at the service.

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

People received safe and effective care that met their needs and respected their choices and personal preferences. All the people and their visiting relatives and friends spoken with during the inspection praised the staff, the management team and the standard of care provided.

There were sufficient suitably qualified, trained, and experienced staff on duty and safe recruitment procedures were followed.

Risks to health, safety and welfare of people who lived, worked and visited the home were identified and managed safely.

Medicines were received, stored, administered, recorded and disposed of safely.

Safeguarding systems, policies and procedures ensured people were safe and protected from abuse.

Safe infection prevention and control practices were followed to minimise the spread of infection, including those related to COVID-19.

Staff presented as well trained, caring professionals who had developed positive relationships with the people who lived at and visited the home. They were pleasant, engaging and showed skill and sensitivity in the way they responded to people.

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.

Managers and staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities, and promoted a positive, person-centred culture. They worked well together as an effective team and had good relationships with other care professionals. This ensured that people received joined up health care and their needs were met.

Effective systems were in place for checking on the quality and safety of the service and making improvements where needed.

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 requires improvement (published 22 July 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

Our routine monitoring identified that the service had improved significantly on safe and leadership and governance previously rated as requires improvement. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. 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 improved from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the finding from this inspection.

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 Victoria Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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