Herons Park Nursing Home

Herons Park Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 82 people on three floors of one building. The home service provides support to younger adults, older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 50 people using the service.

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

The providers' governance systems had not identified the shortfalls found at this inspection. Audit systems and processes failed to identify and manage effectively risks relating to the management of medicines and other aspects of the service that required improvement. There were areas of people's documentation that needed to be improved to ensure staff had the necessary up-to-date information to provide safe and consistent care.

The management of medicines was not always safe and people were at risk of not always receiving their medicines as prescribed. The systems for staff to ensure people received their medicine as prescribed were not always effective. Staff administering topical creams had no competency checks to ensure they applied people’s creams correctly.

We identified shortfalls in respect of the management of risk. For example, the management of incident and accidents. Wound care plans lacked details. Incident forms were completed but there was a lack of overview, analysis and follow-up to prevent a re-occurrence or to mitigate risk. Lessons were not always learned when things went wrong.

Staff received training and knew how to recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns., However, safeguarding incidents were not always reported to the safeguarding authority or to Care Quality Commission (CQC). Some issues reported to the registered manager remained unresolved on the second day of our inspection.

Checks of the environment were completed, staff were trained in infection control and followed hygiene practices to keep people safe from the spread of infection. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

People, their relatives and staff were invited to share their feedback with the management team. Staff provided care in a sensitive and caring manner, putting people's choices and preferences at the centre. People and relatives felt able to raise concerns or complaints and were confident they would be listened to. We received positive feedback from people, their relatives and staff on the service and the management team.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 17 January 2020 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 18 September 2018.

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.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment, good governance and notification of other incidents at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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.