Riverside House

Updated 18 February 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 care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has 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 9 February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 18 February 2022

About the service

Riverside House is a residential care home which is provides personal care for up to 46 people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 45 people living there.

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

People said they were well cared for at this home and made positive comments about the “friendly, caring” staff. People and relatives told us staff were kind, respectful and treated them well. They said there was plenty to do and they enjoyed going out into the local community.

People felt safe and comfortable with staff. Staff were trained in safeguarding people and there had been improvements in the way issues were reported and acted upon.

The home was warm, clean and well-maintained.

There were enough staff to support people’s needs and staff were deployed in an effective way. There had been improvements to care and medicines record.

People’s needs were assessed and regularly reviewed to make sure their care could be provided by this service. Staff said they had good training and support to carry out their roles.

People said the meals were good and there were plenty of choices. Staff worked closely with other care professionals to support people’s health needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People now received personalised care. Staff respected people’s choices. People could lead their own lifestyle whenever they wanted.

Staff knew people’s needs and their preferences for how they would like to receive their care. Care records now clearly provided staff with the information they needed to care for people. There were a range of activities and events on offer for people to take part in.

Staff and care professionals said the home had improved since the registered manager returned to their post.

People, relatives and staff said the service was well-run and their views were listened to. The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and continuously improve the service.

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 22 August 2018). 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.

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.