Cooperscroft Care Home

Cooperscroft Care Home is a care home with nursing. They provide nursing and personal care to older people including people who live with dementia and people with multiple medical conditions. At the time of our inspection there were 57 people using the service. The service provides care in modern purpose- built premises comprising of 3 floors. There are good sized bedrooms with ensuite facilities and a range of communal lounges and dining areas, including a bistro area and well-maintained gardens and outdoor spaces.

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

People told us they felt safe at Cooperscroft Care Home. Staff have good knowledge of their safeguarding responsibilities and concerns were raised and actioned appropriately including alerting local authority safeguarding teams and CQC as required. People were supported to feel safe through initiatives such as scam awareness and internet safety sessions.

Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were managed well and the service promoted positive risk taking to support people to follow their aspirations and achieve positive outcomes in a safe way. When incidents or accidents happened, these were recorded and managed appropriately, and action was taken to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

The service had systems and processes in place to safely store, administer and record medicines use. Overall, people were receiving medicines safely and in accordance with the prescribers’ intentions.

There were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs safely and people told us they did not have to wait a long time for staff to attend to their needs. People were protected from the risk of infection because staff understood and followed good infection prevention and control practice.

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 an exceptionally person-centred culture at the service, where managers respected and valued people as individuals with hopes, dreams and aspirations. People were supported to be part of the day to day running of the service from having the opportunity to work in a role for a day, to participating in fire drills and wellbeing talks along with staff. People and their relatives were very complimentary about the management, the staff and their experiences of care at Cooperscroft Care Home. Everyone we spoke with felt their views were sought, listened to and acted on to continuously improve the service.

The provider strove for excellence in all they did and as a result had won a number of awards in recognition of their achievements. They had robust systems in place to monitor the quality of the service, incorporating the views of people, relatives and staff at all times. There was a strong focus on staff well-being as well as supporting them to develop and build on their skills.

People and their relatives said the management team were very visible throughout the service and were always approachable and responsive to issues they raised. We observed that managers were available throughout the day and appeared to have very positive relationships with people.

The provider worked particularly well in partnership with external professionals and the wider community to ensure high quality care and positive outcomes for people.

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 30 August 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

This was a focused inspection looking at the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from good to outstanding based on the findings of this inspection.

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

This inspection was carried out on the 26 April and 02 and 14 May 2018.

At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Cooperscroft Care Home 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. They are registered to provide accommodation nursing and personal care to 60 older people some of whom may live with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 54 people living in the home.

The home had a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.

People told us they were feeling safe and staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding processes and when to report any concerns to the registered manager or local safeguarding authorities. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people`s needs likes, dislikes and preferences. Staff were knowledgeable about risk management and how to mitigate risks to keep people safe. People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff who responded in a timely manner to people when they required assistance.

People received effective care from a staff team who had been trained appropriately and who were supported by their line manager. Staff had worked with other professionals to continually develop their skills. People’s consent was obtained prior to care being provided and staff explained to people what they were consenting to. Where people were unable to provide consent the legal requirements were understood by staff and followed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People were supported to have sufficient food and drinks. People had access to healthcare professionals such as their GP as and when required. People received appropriate support from staff to take their medicines safely.

People felt that they were treated as individuals and they mattered. The care people received was personalised and the majority of staff paid close attention to the needs of the people they supported.

People nearing the end of their life and their families received a good level of care and support.

People were encouraged to socialise, pursue their hobbies and interests and try new things. There was a strong culture within the service of treating people with dignity, respect and supporting people to remain as independent as possible. People and the staff knew each other well and these relationships were valued by people who used the service.

People and their relatives where appropriate were involved in the development and the review of their care and support plans. Support plans were comprehensive and captured people’s support needs as well as their preferences regarding the care they received. Care plans were updated every time a change occurred which influenced the way people received support. People were supported to take decisions about their care and be independent.

The manager and the provider carried out a regular programme of audits to assess the quality of the service, and we saw that these were capable of identifying shortfalls which needed to be addressed. Where shortfalls were identified, records demonstrated that these were acted upon promptly.

The inspection took place on 29 March 2016 and was unannounced which meant the provider or manager did not know we were coming. We previously inspected Cooperscroft Care Home in September 2015. During that inspection we found that the provider was not meeting the required standards. This was because there were not always enough experienced and skilled staff to meet the needs of people, and staff who were caring for people living with dementia did not always have sufficient training. In addition people were not supported to pursue their hobbies and interests. At this inspection we found the required improvements had been made and the service now met the required standards.

The home had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. Shortly after our previous inspection in September 20162015?, the provider changed their legal entity requiring a new provider registration following a reorganisation of the company.

CQC is required to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. DoLS are in place to protect people where they do not have capacity to make decisions and where it is considered necessary to restrict their freedom in some way, usually to protect themselves or others. At the time of the inspection we found that applications had been made to the local authority in relation to people who lived at Cooperscroft Care Home and a number of these were pending an outcome.

People told us they felt safe living at Cooperscroft Care Home. Staff were aware of how to keep people safe and risks to people’s safety and well-being were identified and managed. Incidents and accidents were reported and investigated by the manager, however they were not always robustly analysed for patterns or trends to ensure people were protected from harm. Where people’s needs changed staff ensured these were responded to and managed in a safe manner. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to support people, although people told us that at certain times staff were not always available to them. The registered manager was aware of this and had acted to increase levels in the home. There were suitable arrangements for the safe storage, and administration of people’s medicines, including controlled drugs, and people’s medicines were regularly reviewed.

People were asked for their permission before staff assisted them with care or support. Staff had the skills and knowledge necessary to provide people with safe and effective care and demonstrated this throughout the inspection. Staff received regular support from management which helped them feel supported and valued. People received appropriate support and encouragement to eat and drink sufficient quantities and people’s nutritional needs were assessed and monitored effectively. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals when they needed them and feedback from health care professionals was positive and supportive of the care provided at Cooperscroft Care Home.

People’s privacy and dignity was promoted. People told us they were treated with kindness and compassion by staff who listened to them. Staff knew people’s individual needs and were able to describe to us how to provide care to people that matched their current needs.

People and staff told us the culture in the home was open, supportive and transparent. Staff told us that since the appointment of the new registered manager the atmosphere and culture in the home had improved. People’s care records were regularly updated to provide a comprehensive account of a person’s needs and care. Arrangements were in place to obtain feedback from people who used the service, their relatives and staff members about the quality of care services provided. People told us they felt confident to raise anything that concerned them with staff or management. Arrangements were in place to regularly monitor and review the quality of the care and support provided for people who lived at Cooperscroft Care Home. People’s care records were not always reflective of their current needs; however the registered manager was aware of this and was in the process of making improvements to address any areas of concern.