Chesford Grange Care Home

Chesford Grange is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 74 people. The service provides support to both younger and older adults some who may have a diagnosis of dementia, mental health conditions and or a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 53 people using the service.

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

The governance systems in place did not always identify issues relating to safety and quality within the service; this meant lessons could not always be learned when things went wrong. Some people’s care records had not been reviewed and updated to ensure they contained the correct level of information about people’s needs.

There was a new electronic medication system in place. However, not all staff were using the system correctly which meant we could not be assured people were receiving their medication as prescribed. We received mixed feedback about the level of staffing across the service, and some relatives told us they were unsure who the management team were.

Processes were in place to protect people from the risk of harm and abuse and staff were trained to respond to safeguarding concerns, although the lack of managerial oversight meant some safeguarding referrals had not been made. There were measures in place to mitigate the risk of the spread of infection across the service.

Care was delivered in line with people’s assessed needs and people were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported support this practice. People had access to healthcare as needed.

Staff were observed to be kind and supported people in a dignified way. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible.

Activities in the home were socially and culturally relevant for people and activity staff were enthusiastic about improving the programme of activities available. There was a complaints policy in place and compliments about the service had been received. People received good end of life care.

There was a new manager in place who was dedicated to improving the service and driving change to improve outcomes for people living at Chesford Grange. They were committed to ensuring people, relatives and staff had a voice and were encouraged to feedback about the 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

This service was registered with us on 28 January 2022 and this was the first inspection.

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.

Follow up

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