Red Rocks Nursing Home

Updated 25 January 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 17 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service two days notice of the inspection.

Updated 25 January 2022

The inspection took place on 20 November 2017 and was unannounced. At the last inspection, we found breaches of Regulations 11, 12, 17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made in all areas of concern that we had previously identified and that these improvements had been sustained.

Red Rocks 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.

Red Rocks Nursing Home is registered to provide support for up to 24 people with nursing and personal care needs. It has 22 bedrooms, two of which are large enough to be shared. There are communal toilets and communal bathrooms with specialised bathing facilities for people to use and all bedrooms have private washing facilities.

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. There was a registered manager in post who was also the registered provider but they declined to engage with the inspectors or the inspection process. Fortunately for inspection purposes, the clinical lead and the care administrator assisted inspectors with their inspection of the home.

We looked at care plans and found that they covered people’s needs. At our last inspection, risk assessment and care plans were sometimes generic and lacked sufficient detail. At this inspection we saw that improvement had been made. Some of the wording of people’s care plans and risk assessments was generic but we saw that staff had added in extra detail about the person and their needs were applicable. Greater detail had also been added to various aspects of people’s care such as nutrition and falls.

Records showed that people received the day to day care they needed from the staff team and we saw that where people needed support from other health and social care professionals, this had been organised without delay. For example, people received support from dieticians, speech and language therapy, diabetic care, podiatry and physiotherapy.

We saw that there were activities available and people said that they enjoyed them. An activities co-ordinator was employed by the provider and we saw that a range of group and one to one activities were available for people to participate in. This promoted people’s well-being.

The home employed adequate staff in order to meet the needs of the people who lived there. The staff employed were supported by the clinical lead and care administrator to do their jobs well. They had access to regular training, support and supervision. We found the staff on duty to be pleasant, co-operative and attentive to people’s needs. The staff were kind and caring and we saw many examples of how they respected the privacy and dignity of the people who lived in the home. People spoke very highly of the staff and the care that they received. When we spoke with staff, we found they had a good knowledge of the people they cared for including their day to day preferences and likes and dislikes

The premises were cleaned and well maintained. We saw that the equipment was regularly checked to ensure that it was safe for use. We also saw that the service ensured that the maintenance of the home did not disrupt the care that was being provided. We found however that the home was not sufficient dementia friendly to ensure that people’s ability to be independent was promoted. The home lacked adequate signage to promote the ability of people who lived with dementia to navigate around the building independently.

At our last inspection, the manager and staff lacked sufficient understanding of the mental capacity act 2005. At this inspection, we saw that staff had undertaken training in the mental capacity act 2005 and the deprivation of liberty safeguards. Staff we spoke with about this legislation demonstrated they now understood this legislation and their responsibility within it. Records showed that since our last inspection they had applied the act to ensure that people’s consent was lawfully obtained. .

We saw that risk assessments were in place and were updated regularly to keep people safe. This included the assessment of any potential risks associated with the use of bed rails. This was an improvement since our last inspection and ensured that people who had bed rails installed were safe to do so.

Medicines were managed well for everyone who lived in the home. Stock levels of people’s medication were correct and safely stored. Records showed people received the medicines they needed. Medication plans in respect of the application of topical creams and ointments needed improvement.

End of Life care was an area where the service particularly focussed and this had been recognised with the service holding the Gold Standard Framework (GSF) Platinum Beacon status for End of Life Care. It was clear that this award and the values of the GSF were very important for all of the staff.

The management of the home had improved since our last inspection. Improvements had been made to the management of risk, care planning, fire safety arrangements, medicines, staff training and support, mental capacity care and the systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. It was clear that the staff team had worked hard since our last inspection to ensure the service complied in full with the health and social care regulations. People we spoke with confirmed that the service was well led and everyone we spoke with was happy with the care they received.