The Crest Care Home

Updated 24 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 Care Act 2014.

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

1 inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. 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 Crest Care Home 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

This inspection was unannounced.

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. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who used the service, 4 of their relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 3 members of care staff, the activities co-ordinator, the quality lead and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. These included people’s care records and medication records. We looked at staff records in relation to recruitment and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 24 May 2023

About the service

The Crest Care Home is a residential care home which was providing accommodation for older people who required personal or nursing care. There were 25 people using the service at the time of our inspection. The service can support up to 31 people in 1 adapted building.

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

People and their relatives told us they felt safe living at The Crest Care Home, and they were happy with their care and support. Feedback reflected recent improvements and people felt staff knew how to keep them safe.

Infection prevention control practices were in place. Staff were following current guidance and maintaining use of personal protective equipment (PPE) where it was appropriate. Additional cleaning of all areas and frequently touched surfaces was in place and recorded regularly by staff. Training included hand hygiene and other infection prevention control related subjects.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider should consider current guidance on 'as and when required medicines' and to ensure they update their practice accordingly. At this inspection we found the provider had acted and made improvements by implementing better recording methods and instructions for staff to follow.

Medicines were stored, managed, and administered safely and records regarding people’s medicines were completed effectively. Improvements to care plans and systems meant medicines were managed well. People received the medicines they needed to support their health needs. Fire safety was managed, appropriate checks and completed action plans were in place along with robust risk assessments.

The environment was clean and safe and was adapted to meet people’s needs. There were plans in place for more refurbishment work to be completed There were systems in place for communicating with people, their relatives, and staff to collect their views and feedback regarding people’s care and support.

Individualised risk assessments were improved to be more detailed. These were in place to ensure people could take risks safely. Staff were confident about how to raise concerns to safeguard people. Robust recruitment and selection procedures ensured suitable staff were employed.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and follow up.

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 30 March 2022) 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.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

Follow up

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