Clarendon House

Updated 14 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 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

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Clarendon House 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. Clarendon House 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 reviewed information we held about the home and contacted the local authority. 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 three people and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from six members of staff including the registered manager and clinical lead. We contacted two health and social care professionals.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care and support records and four people’s medicine administration records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the home, including policies and procedures, accident and incident records, safeguarding records and reports.

Updated 14 January 2023

About the service

Clarendon House is a care home registered to provide care, rehabilitation and support for up to eight people who are living with acquired neurological conditions. The home does not provide nursing care. The building has been adapted and is accessed over three floors by stairs. There were seven people living at the home at the time of inspection.

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

Improvements had been made and the home was well-led. The registered manager had introduced a new governance and auditing system following the previous inspection. Audits were up to date and identified any lessons learnt following incidents and accidents so that they could take action to keep people safe.

The home had a recruitment process in place, but this had not always been followed. We have made a recommendation about recruitment practices within the home. The provider was responsive to address the shortfalls found within this inspection and took immediate action.

People told us they felt safe and liked living at Clarendon House. One person told us, “You can talk openly, and I feel positive about this place. It's incredible.” Another person stated, “It's good here. They [staff] are good, you can talk to them.”

Care plans and risk assessments were person centred. Relatives told us staff knew their loved ones well. Staff supported people in a kind and compassionate way, considering their dignity and respecting people’s rights. 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.

The culture of the home was open and transparent. The registered manager demonstrated joint working with health professionals which provided specialist support to people, involving their families and other professionals as appropriate. Staff demonstrated good understanding around providing people with person centred care and spoke knowledgably about how people preferred their care and support to be given.

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 26 October 2021).

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.

At our last inspection we made recommendations about risk assessments, environmental safety and medicines management. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendations and had made improvements.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they 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 Clarendon House 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.