Croftfield Residential Care Home

Updated 22 January 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one 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

Croftfield 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.

The service is owned and run by the provider who is also the manager of the home. They are registered with CQC as the provider and are therefore not required to be registered as the manager as well. This means that they have sole legally responsibility for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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 spent time in each unit and in communal areas speaking with people and observing their daily activities and staff interactions. We spoke with fourteen people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of care staff, the manager/provider, the deputy manager, chef and domestic staff. We looked around the home to check it was clean and a safe place for people to live.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff training. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service, including how the manager/provider monitored the quality and safety of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We were contacted by a further five relatives to give us feedback on their experience of the service.

Updated 22 January 2020

About the service

Croftfield Residential Home is a residential care home that provides personal care and accommodation for up to 22 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 21 people were living at the home. The home is a converted Victorian building set in its own gardens and situated in a rural area in north Cumbria. Croftfield Residential Home will be referred to as Croftfield within this report.

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

The service put people at the centre of the care they received. People received a responsive service that was very person-centred. Staff included people to develop detailed care plans. People’s changing needs were identified and responded to very quickly. People and their relatives told us they had made good progress and their well-being had benefited significantly since arriving at the home. The service provided a consistently high standard of compassionate end of life care and took into consideration the needs of relatives and friends. This was confirmed by healthcare professionals.

The provider and staff were creative in finding ways to involve people in the local community and to maintain and develop new interests to improve their quality of life. An excellent range of activities and opportunities were available to people inside and outside the home.

People received safe care. The provider had systems to protect people from the risk of abuse. Staff assessed and managed risks to people to help keep them safe. There were enough staff to support people. The provider carried out checks on new staff to ensure they were suitable to work in the home. Staff managed people’s medicines safely and kept the home clean and hygienic.

Staff supported people with their healthcare needs and worked well with external healthcare professionals. The service met people’s nutritional needs and worked with them to make sure food and drinks also reflected their preferences. People were cared for by staff who were well supported and had the right skills, knowledge and training to meet their needs very effectively. 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.

People were treated with kindness and compassion by staff who respected their privacy and dignity and promoted inclusion. We were told on numerous occasions by people and relatives, “Croftfield feels like a proper home not an institution.” The service supported people to be independent. We received very positive feedback about the caring approach of staff.

The service was being well-led by an established manager, who was also the owner/provider, and people felt she was very approachable and caring. People felt the care they received was of a high standard and liked living at the home. Everyone we spoke with said they would highly recommend the home. The culture was open and inclusive. If people were not happy, they were confident they could speak with staff to make improvements. The manager understood their responsibilities and monitored the quality of the service using a range of systems.

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 20 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.