Acorn Lodge

Updated 12 September 2020

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Acorn Lodge is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short notice period of the inspection to ensure safety of all involved and assess risks around Covid-19.

What we did before 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the provider, the interim manager, a nurse and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medicines records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at policies and quality assurance records. We spoke with three relatives by telephone.

Updated 12 September 2020

About the service

Acorn Lodge is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 40 older people, the majority of whom were living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 23 people were living at the home. The home accommodates people in one adapted building.

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

Additional staff were required to support people with activities. All other aspects of care were provided when people needed. We found that paperwork was not always up to date or accurate and analysis of accidents and incidents was required. We have made recommendations around this.

Relatives felt their family members were safe at the service and that staff treated people well. Staff were knowledgeable around the risks associated with people’s care and any clinical concerns were addressed appropriately.

The service was clean, and staff adhered to appropriate infection control measures. Relatives felt involved in their family members care and were complimentary about the communication from staff about their loved ones.

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 21 October 2019). At this inspection we found concerns that related to the robustness of records, the deployment of staff and the requirement to have a registered manager.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to risks associated with people’s care and the management of people’s nursing care needs. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has remained Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the Safe and Well Led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.