Kimwick Care Home

Updated 25 August 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Kimwick 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. Kimwick 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

We gave the service 72 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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 2 people and 3 relatives of people who lived in the service. We spoke to and/or received written feedback from 6 staff which included the registered manager and support staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality assurance audits, training records and meeting minutes were reviewed.

Updated 25 August 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Kimwick Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care and support to 4 adults at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 4 people.

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

Right Support:

The service was not sufficiently well maintained or homely for people living there. Improvements were needed to the décor, fixtures, furnishings and garden. A programme of improvements commenced immediately when this was brought to the provider's attention during the inspection.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. People were supported safely with their medicines. There were enough staff on shift to support people and meet their needs and preferences. Staff received an induction and ongoing training for their roles. People's nutritional needs were met. Staff worked together with relatives, health and social care professionals to ensure people received consistent, effective and timely support. 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.

Right Care

People were supported to follow their personal interests. Systems were in place to report and follow up accidents and incidents appropriately. Recruitment checks were completed to support the provider make safe recruitment decisions. Some gaps in employment histories were found which were rectified during the inspection. Risks were assessed and reviewed regularly. People living in the service had regular house and key worker meetings where a range of relevant topics were discussed.

Right Culture

The provider did not have a plan in place to ensure the service was properly maintained and suitably decorated. The registered manager had effective oversight of the quality and standards of the care and support people received. They were aware of their regulatory responsibilities. People's needs were assessed and reviewed regularly and as their needs changed. People's diverse needs were included in care planning processes. Feedback surveys were used but these were not anonymous and were not distributed to relatives to invite feedback about all aspects of service provision. Staff were supported through regular team meetings and one to one supervision.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 13 September 2019). A targeted inspection took place on 12 January 2022 which only looked at infection prevention and control during the COVID19 pandemic period. No rating was awarded at that time.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective 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 requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

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.

Enforcement

We found 1 breach of regulations in relation to the environment. 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 Kimwick Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.