Hooklands Care Home

Updated 8 November 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Hooklands 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. Hooklands 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 five people who used the service about their experience of the care provided and three relatives of people who use the service. We spoke with eight members of staff including the providers, registered manager, head of care, senior care workers, care workers and the chef.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including accident/ incident reports and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from four health professionals.

Updated 8 November 2022

About the service

Hooklands Care Home provides accommodation with personal care for people over the age of 65. The service is registered to accommodate up to 27 people and was providing personal care to 23 people at the time of the inspection. People have a range of care and support needs including diabetes, epilepsy and some people are living with dementia and the frailties of old age. Any nursing needs were provided by community nursing services.

Hooklands care home is a detached house located in a residential area of Bracklesham Bay. The service has been adapted over three floors.

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

Risks to people's safety had been assessed, and actions taken to mitigate them. People’s care plans detailed health needs and reflected the personalised care which was being delivered. One person told us, "They do a good job looking after my health."

People and their relatives were happy with the care they received and felt safe with the staff that were supporting them. People were safeguarded from situations in which they may experience harm. Staff knew how to identify potential harm and report concerns. People received their medicines safely from staff trained to administer them. Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who used the service.

The culture of the service was positive, and people, relatives and staff were complimentary of the management and provider. Comments included, “Staff are listened to by the registered manager and they (the provider) phones every day and comes in regularly to ask how things are going.” And “Very approachable and nice. Always available. Can’t fault them at all.” Improvements had been made to systems and process that monitored the quality of the service being delivered and accuracy of records. Staff knew people well and provided support in line with people's preferences. People's diverse needs were catered for and they were treated with dignity and respect. People and relatives described the staff as caring and thoughtful and said they were treated with care and kindness. Feedback about the service from people and those close to them was positive.

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.

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. At the time of the inspection one person was living at the service who had a learning disability. Staff were receiving training about communication and support for people with a learning disability. We spoke with the person, who told us they were pleased with the care and support they received.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 May 2019) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 26 March 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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.

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 requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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