Florence Care Reading Ltd

Updated 25 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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

Florence Care Reading Ltd 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. Florence Care Reading Ltd 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 reviewed information CQC held about the service and notifications we had received. We checked information held by Companies House, the Food Standards Agency and the Information Commissioner’s Office. We checked for any reviews online, and we looked at the content of the provider’s website. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke to 9 people who use the service and 3 relatives. We spoke with 5 staff, including the registered manager, the deputy manager, nursing assistant and care staff. We observed care in communal areas, for example, during mealtimes, to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We reviewed a range of documents, including 5 people’s care records and daily notes in the services’ online care system. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including the provider’s policies, procedures, accidents and incidents and quality assurance audits.

Updated 25 April 2023

About the service

Florence Care Reading Ltd is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 79 people. Florence Care Reading Ltd accommodates people across two separate wings, each of which has separate adapted facilities. The service provides support to older people, younger adults, people with dementia and people with a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 66 people using the service.

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

Risks assessments were clearly written and easy to follow meaning that people were less likely to suffer harm. Regular maintenance checks of the home were undertaken. Medicines were managed safely. People felt there were enough staff at the home and felt safe living there.

The service had an open and transparent way of working to ensure people’s safety. The provider was able to demonstrate effective quality assurance systems to ensure the quality of the service was maintained. There was a positive culture amongst staff at the service. Staff knew people they supported well and cared about their wellbeing. The provider was able to demonstrate their compliance with legal obligations and any learning from incidents or accidents was undertaken effectively.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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 23 February 2022)

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation staffing levels 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 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 report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Florence Care Reading Ltd 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.