Oakleigh Lodge

Updated 3 May 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.

This was a focused inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 17 (Good governance) and Regulation 18 (Staffing) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

As part of this inspection, we looked at the infection prevention and control 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 carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

Oakleigh Lodge 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.

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

The inspection site visits on 1 February 2023 and 2 February 2023 were both unannounced. A further announced inspection visit took place on 6 February 2023.

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.

We also used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We communicated with 3 people who used the service. For people who were unable to communicate verbally, we spent time observing their body language during their interactions with care staff to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We used the Quality of Life Tool which is designed to support the corroboration of all sources of evidence gathered during inspection.

We spoke with 6 members of staff including care staff, agency care staff, deputy manager and registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision.

After the site visits, we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. A variety of records were reviewed. These included 3 people’s care records, maintenance records, and records relating to the management of the service. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

We received feedback about the service from 4 external professionals who had recent and ongoing involvement with the service. We received feedback from 2 relatives of the people who live at the care home. We also received feedback, by phone, from 1 staff member.

Updated 3 May 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability, and autistic people, respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability, and autistic people, and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Oakleigh Lodge is a residential care home which is registered to provide personal and nursing care for up to 3 people; and 3 people were living at the care home at the time of the inspection. Nursing care was not provided at the care home.

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

Right Support

People were not always protected from the potential risk of scalding, and safety measures to prevent the potential for legionella bacteria were not consistently carried out. People had choices about their living environment and were able to personalise their rooms. People benefitted from the interactive and stimulating environment. Staff supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area and to interact online with their relatives. Staff enabled people to access specialist health care support in the community. Hygiene arrangements in the care home had improved. People received their prescribed medicines safely, from staff who had been appropriately trained.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care

People’s specific care plan information was not always easy for staff to find on the provider’s electronic care record system. Staff promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. Daytime staffing levels had been increased since the last inspection. Staff understood people’s cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. People received kind and compassionate care. People were supported to eat and drink enough and had a varied diet offered to them. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to people’s individual needs. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Culture

People were not always supported to achieve their individual goals and aspirations. People received good quality personal care from trained staff who could meet their care needs. Staff placed people’s needs, and rights, at the heart of everything they did. People’s relatives were enabled to be involved in the review of people’s care plans. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised so that people received support based on transparency, respect, and inclusivity. People’s ability to access community activities had increased since the last inspection.

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 was Requires Improvement (published 25 August 2022) and there were breaches of regulations found. We also issued the provider with a Warning Notice in respect of issues which required improvements. 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 some improvements had been made but the provider was still in breach of regulation.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulations 17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met. We also checked if the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm whether they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of Safe, Effective, Responsive 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.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

For the key question not inspected, we used the rating awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained Requires Improvement. 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 Oakleigh Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified ongoing breaches in relation to safety management, and the provider’s quality monitoring of the service, at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.