Edwardstow Court Care Centre

Updated 17 November 2022

The inspection

This was a targeted inspection to check on concerns we had about medicines errors, safeguarding and falls.

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 an adult social care inspector and a medicines inspector.

Service and service type

Edwardstow Court Care Centre 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. Edwardstow Court Care Centre 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 had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR) from February 2022. 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 six people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, bursar, activities and well-being co-ordinator, two care workers, a housekeeper and two agency care assistants.

We reviewed a range of records including people’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider and met with the Operations Director and Area Operations Manager to validate evidence found.

Updated 17 November 2022

About the service

Edwardstow Court Care Centre is a ‘care home’ providing personal and nursing care to 33 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 48 people.

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

The service was outstandingly responsive to people's individual belief's, preferences and needs, and people’s wellbeing was enhanced by person-centred activity planning. The activities co-ordinator used national guidance to support activity planning and ensure activities were tailored to the interests, needs and hobbies of the people living at the service.

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 home was well led by a management team who were passionate about providing high quality individualised care to people. The registered manager and deputy manager led by example and without exception staff told us that they were well supported.

Robust quality assurance systems and a strong learning culture contributed to continual development and improvement of the home. The registered manager told us, “The journey has been amazing but we are still on the journey, and the journey will never end.”

There was a culture of listening to people and positively learning from events so similar incidents were not repeated. As a result, the quality of the service had continued to grow and develop. Feedback about the service from people and those close to them was consistently positive, whilst feedback from other professionals indicated effective partnership working.

All staff demonstrated extremely compassionate, attentive and caring approaches in their interactions with people. They consistently promoted and encouraged people's independence and treated them with dignity and respect. People and their relatives were complimentary about the approach of the staff and the management team. Everybody we spoke with said they would recommend the service.

People were supported by staff who understood how to keep them safe from the risk of abuse. Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place and staff had been trained in how to protect people from abuse.

Support of the staff team was paramount to the registered manager, who told us, “We are nothing without the team.” The staff team worked as one to provide high quality, personalised care to the people living in the service. One staff member said, “We are such a strong team. We know people’s strengths and areas of development, and we all complement each other well.”

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 12 March 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Edwardstow Court Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.