Rock Cottage Care Services

Updated 6 January 2024

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 team consisted of 2 inspectors, 1 who supported remotely with telephone calls and reviewing documents, and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Rock Cottage Care Services 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. Rock Cottage Care Services 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority 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 15 people who used the service and 7 relatives about their experiences of the care received. We spoke with 10 members of staff. This included the registered manager, the general manager, a cook, a housekeeper, a nurse and 4 care staff.

We reviewed a range of records this included 3 people's care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We reviewed audits and environmental checks and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 6 January 2024

About the service

Rock Cottage Care Services is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 37 people. The service provides support to older adults, some of whom were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

People’s risks were identified, monitored and managed, however, they were not always clearly assessed or recorded. The provider did not always learn lessons when things had gone wrong and checks undertaken did not always drive through improvements in the care people received.. The Provider ensured there were enough staff, however, they had not all completed required training for their role.

The provider did not have a fully supported management structure. The provider’s system did not always effectively monitor the quality of care provided to drive improvements.

People were protected from the risk of infection as staff were following safe infection prevention and control practices. People were supported to receive their medicines safely. 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.

There was a positive and open culture at the service. The provider understood their responsibilities under the duty of candour. People and staff were involved in the running of the service and fully understood and took into account people’s protected characteristics The provider worked in partnership with others.

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 January 2022).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about managerial oversight of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key question not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

Enforcement

We have identified a breach in relation to good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow Up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.