Appleton Manor

Updated 14 May 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 26 April 2022 and we gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 14 May 2022

About the service

Appleton Manor is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 58 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service is registered to support up to 59 people.

Appleton Manor provides care across two floors. The ground floor unit provides general nursing care, and the first floor residential care to people living with dementia. All rooms are en-suite and there are shared communal areas including lounge and dining areas and a secure garden.

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

People told us they felt, as areas of risk were assessed, and steps taken to reduce these risks. Safe recruitment processes were being followed and there was ongoing work to improve the levels of staffing within the service. We have made a recommendation about staffing levels and ensuring these are in line with people's assessed needs. People were being supported to take their medicines safely. The service was clean and tidy and there were systems in place to ensure that lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

Staff had completed a variety of training and told us they felt well supported. People’s needs were assessed prior to admission and they were supported to access health care and other services as needed. People told us the food was good and we noted specific dietary needs were being met.

People were supported to have 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 and involved relevant individuals in these discussions.

People told us that staff were kind and caring and we saw positive interactions between people and staff. Independence was promoted and people were often encouraged to do as much for themselves as possible. We saw that people were given choice in areas such as meals, but it was not always clear that people had choice in all areas of their daily lives.

Care plans contained information about people’s care and support needs and work was ongoing to make these more person-centred. People knew how to complain, and complaints were investigated, and responses provided. There were systems in place to assess people’s end of life preferences and families were appreciative of when this support had been given and often sent thankyou cards to staff.

People spoke positively about the registered manager and there was ongoing work to improve staff culture and team working across the different job roles. There were various ways for people, relatives, and staff to feedback and become involved in service development. The service worked closely with external organisations to deliver good care to people living at Appleton Manor.

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 8 August 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.