Maple Lodge Care Home

Updated 10 January 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 Care Act 2014.

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

One inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. 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

Maple Lodge Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 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.

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 and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who used the service and 2 relatives/friends about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 4 members of staff, 2 visiting healthcare professionals and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. These included people’s care records and medication records. We looked at staff records in relation to recruitment and other records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 10 January 2023

About the service

Maple Lodge Care home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 50 older people at the time of our inspection. The service can support up to 60 people in one adapted building on ground level.

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

Parts of the environment required an upgrade as they were unclean and tired. Some areas had been improved and others were part of an improvement plan.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe living at Maple Lodge care home, and they were happy with their care and support. Feedback from people and their relatives reflected that staff knew and understood people well.

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.

Medicines were stored, managed and administered safely and records regarding people’s medicines were completed effectively. Fire safety was managed well, and appropriate checks were in place. People received the medicines they needed to support their health needs. The registered manager closely monitored the use of any ‘when required’ medicines. These were managed in an individualised way.

Infection prevention control practices were in place. All essential visitors had to wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). Additional cleaning of all areas and frequent touch surfaces was in place and recorded regularly by staff. Training included putting on and taking off PPE, hand hygiene and other COVID-19 related training.

There were systems in place for communicating with people, their relatives and staff regarding people’s care and support.

Individualised risk assessments were in place to ensure people could take risks safely. Staff were confident about how to raise concerns to safeguard people. Robust recruitment and selection procedures ensured suitable staff were employed.

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

Rating at last inspection and follow up

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 December 2021) and there were breaches 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

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation regards further improvement of the environment.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall 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.