Cherrybrook House

Updated 23 September 2022

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 carried out by two inspectors, a medicines inspector and two Experts 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

The Gateway Respite 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. The Gateway Respite 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced. Inspection activity started on 24 August 2022 and ended on 1 September 2022. We visited the location on 24 August, 25 August, and 1 September 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 the registered manager and five support staff. We spoke with four people receiving support and nine relatives. We reviewed four people's care records. We reviewed records and audits relating to the management of the service. We asked the registered manager to send us documents before and after the on-site inspection. These were provided in a timely manner and this evidence was included as part of our inspection.

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.

Updated 23 September 2022

About the service

The Gateway Respite is a residential care home providing personal care to older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. The service provides short term and long-term care and accommodates up to 28 people in one adapted building. At the time of the inspection 12 people were using the service.

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

We have made recommendations about the safe administration of medicines and the effective recording of risk within care plans. We have made a recommendation about reviewing care plans to remove historical information.

There were enough staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding processes. Infection control practice was robust, and staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).

Care plans were personalised and showed the care and support people wanted and needed. People and relatives knew how to raise concerns and were confident these would be dealt with appropriately.

The registered manager had a clear focus on quality and worked alongside staff. Staff worked well with other services and appropriate referrals were made in a timely manner. Quality assurance systems were in place to enable robust governance of responsibilities and regulatory requirements; this supported the continuous improvement of the service through the sharing of lessons learned.

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 13 August 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.

This service has been in Special Measures since 8 December 2020. During this inspection the provider demonstrated improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 15 June 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, person-centred care, good governance, and staffing.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, responsive and well-led which contain those requirements.

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 The Gateway Respite on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about the safe management of some medicines and about improvements in care plan records.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.