Bank House Residential Care Home

Updated 29 February 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 an inspector 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

Bank House Residential Care Home 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. Bank House Residential Care Home is a care home without 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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who lived at the home to gather their views on the care they received. We spoke with the registered manager, 2 care workers and a housekeeper. We spent time observing care. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 29 February 2024

About the service

Bank House Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 33 people. The service provides support to older people and people who were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) were not in place for everyone who needed them.

Risks to people had not been fully identified and care plans lack information or contained conflicting information on how to keep people safe.

Medicines were not always well managed, and staff did not understand the difference between crushing a medicine to make it easier for a person to swallow and administering medicines covertly.

Audits were not always effective in identify concerns and driving improvements. Areas of the environment were in need of redecoration.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and they received appropriate training. Staff knew how to safeguard people. However, new staff needed their safeguarding training prioritised in their induction. People’s nutritional needs were met safely. The home was clean and tidy.

The registered manager learnt from incidents and took action to keep people safe.

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 June 2018).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding.

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 inspection reports and timeline’ link for Bank House Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

During the inspection we found there was a concern with the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to protect people’s rights so we widened the scope of the inspection to include effective.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the management of risk, the safe management of medicines, supporting people's rights under the Mental Health Act 2005 and the governance of the service.

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.