Background to this inspection
Updated
6 August 2021
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 team on site consisted of one inspector and a pharmacist inspector. After the inspection, an Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people and relatives. 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
Riverdale Court 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.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission, however the current manager had applied to register and this was being assessed at the time of this inspection. This means that, once registered, they and the provider will be legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
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. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
Updated
6 August 2021
About the service
Riverdale Court is a care home providing personal care and accommodation to people aged 65 and over. Riverdale Court accommodates up to 80 people across four separate units in one building, each of which have separate adapted facilities. At the time of our inspection there were 78 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
During this inspection, we found improvement was required in relation to some aspects of medicines management and how the service was being managed. There were systems in place to record accidents and incidents, however sufficient analysis was not in place particularly with regards to the high number of falls at the service. The current systems in place were not robust enough to assess the quality and safety of the service effectively.
The service had safeguarding procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed. Relatives told us they felt people were safe and their needs were being met. There were appropriate numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs. Appropriate recruitment checks had taken place before staff started work. Staff followed appropriate infection control practices.
The manager and staff worked in partnership with health and social care providers to plan and deliver an effective service.
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 5 December 2019)
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines, infection control and staffing. 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 changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
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 Riverdale Court 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. We will continue to monitor the service.
We have identified a breach in relation to medicines management and people's safety in relation to falls at this inspection.
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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.