Ritson Lodge

Updated 26 January 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

This inspection was carried out by three inspectors, one of whom was a pharmacist inspector who focused on medicines management. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people and their relatives to ask about their experience of the service.

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

Ritson 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.

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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us 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 spoke with seven people who used the service and four relatives. We spoke with nine staff members including the registered manager, deputy manager and care staff. We reviewed nine care records and three recruitment files. Multiple records relating to the quality, safety and monitoring of the service were reviewed.

Updated 26 January 2023

About the service

Ritson Lodge is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 34 older people at the time of inspection. The service can support up to 60 people.

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

A new management team had been in place since early 2022. The management team had put an improvement and development plan in place, and we found significant improvements had already been made. This included acting upon areas for improvement identified at previous inspections. However, further improvement was still needed with regards to the management and administration of medicines.

Medicines were stored safely within the home however there were five occasions where one person received an out of date medicine. Some of the equipment to administer medicines was not suitable. Medicines were administered in a timely manner and in a way that respected people’s preferences. One person’s care plan for end of life care was not up to date and did not guide staff on choosing the appropriate dose of analgesic, should it be required. We have made recommendations about how the service can make improvements in these areas.

Care planning and risk assessment was clear, concise and provided enough information for staff to care for people. This had been updated when people’s needs had changed.

The service was clean and there were appropriate procedures in place to minimise the risk of the transmission of COVID19.

The new management team had acted upon areas for improvement identified at previous inspections, as well as areas for improvement identified through the providers own quality assurance system. The new management team had robust systems to manage and monitor the quality of the service and took action where required to ensure people received a consistently good 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’ (29 January 2022).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

Why we inspected

This inspection was planned to assess progress with shortfalls identified at our previous inspection on 11 November 2021.

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.

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.