Archived: Avonbourne Care Centre

Updated 8 August 2019

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

Avonbourne Care Centre 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. In addition to the registered manager, there was another manager and a general manager.

The provider has submitted an application to change the registration of this service, so that there are two registered locations in the building, each with a registered manager. We are in the process of assessing that application, to ensure it meets legal requirements and guidance. This inspection did not form part of that registration assessment.

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. This included the action the provider said they would take to address the shortfalls identified at the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with four people who use the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the general manager, a manager, care workers and the peripatetic manager. We also spoke with an external consultant the provider had employed to help improve the quality of the service provided. The registered manager was not available during the inspection as they were on a period of leave.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and a service improvement plan were reviewed.

Updated 8 August 2019

About the service

Avonbourne Care Centre is a care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 120 older people, some of whom may have dementia. At the time of the inspection 51 people were living in the home.

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

At the last inspection we told the provider they needed to improve the way they supported people with medicines, managed risks and assessed the quality of the service. At this inspection we found the provider had made the improvements necessary to meet legal requirements.

Medicines were safely managed. People were supported to take the medicines they had been prescribed. Staff had received additional training and managers regularly checked to ensure the systems were working well. People told us they received their medicines on time and were able to get additional pain relief promptly if they needed it.

Risks people faced had been assessed and there were clear plans setting out the support they needed to stay safe. People told us they felt safe in the home. Staff had a good understanding of the risks and support people needed to stay safe.

There were effective systems in place to assess the quality of the service and plan improvements. The management team made regular checks of all aspects of the service and sought feedback from people about their experiences. This was used to develop a comprehensive service improvement plan, which was regularly reviewed.

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 requires improvement (published 30 April 2019) and there were breaches of regulations. 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 13 March 2019. Breaches of regulations were found and we served a warning notice against the provider. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and governance of the service.

We undertook this targeted 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 safe care and treatment and governance of the service.

The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains requires improvement. This is because we have not assessed all areas of the key questions.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Avonbourne Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.