Clifton View Care Home

Updated 5 July 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by 2 inspectors 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

Clifton View 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. Clifton View 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the 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 contacted local authority stakeholders to see what information they held on the service and outcomes of previous audits.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people and 13 relatives about their experiences of Clifton View Care Home. We observed the care provided to people. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with 11 staff, including the registered manager and a director of the service. We spoke with 2 visiting professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 12 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to the safety of recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies, training records and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 5 July 2023

About the service

Clifton View Care Home is a purpose-built care home providing accommodation for up to 76 people requiring nursing or personal care. At the time of our inspection, 75 people were living at the service. The accommodation was established over three floors. The ground and second floor were for people with longer term care needs. On the first floor was a short stay assessment and rehabilitation unit.

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

Staff did not always have sufficient guidance in care plans. However, staff had received training on how to complete their roles. Medicines were mostly safely managed, but staff did not always record why ‘as needed’ medicines were given and did not always have a second staff member sign when instructions for medicine administration were hand-written. People felt safe at the service, and the registered manager had investigated any concerns. People were safe from the spread of infection.

People were referred for a deprivation of liberty assessment if the staff were concerned about restrictions on their liberty. However, staff did not always complete mental capacity assessments into what decisions a person may not be able to make. This meant it was not always clear how people were supported in the least restrictive way possible.

There was a caring culture at the service. Staff were seen to be kind and people spoke highly of staff’s compassion and kindness. People were provided with a variety of activities and we saw people engaging positively with staff. People were treated with dignity and respect.

Audits were not always effective at creating improvements at the home. There was a positive ethos at the service and people spoke highly of the care provided. Visiting professionals attended the home and reported good communication with the staff team.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 22 March 2019)

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted due to concerns received about neglectful care. The provider had also alerted us to some concerning incidents that had occurred at the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well led.

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.

We found some concerns at the inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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.

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

Enforcement

We have identified 2 breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to safe care and good governance. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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