Gorway House

Updated 30 September 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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 team consisted of 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Gorway House 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. Gorway House 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 were 2 registered managers in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 9 August 2023 and ended on 17 August 2023. We visited the home on 9 August 2023. A remote review of records was completed from 10 August 2023 until 17 August 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information shared with us about the service from local authorities and peoples feedback on our experience and voice forms. Peoples voice and feedback is essential for us to understand the care been provided by the service and any improvements people feel could be made to improve the care provided.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who were supported by the service. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with 5 members of staff, 1 home manager and 2 registered managers. We also spoke with 2 healthcare professionals who worked closely with the service. We reviewed and sampled a range of documents and records including the care records for 5 people, 4 staff recruitment files and training records. We also looked at records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service.

Updated 30 September 2023

About the service

Gorway House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 28 people. The service provides support to older people, some who live with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 21 people using the service. The care home is split across 2 floors, each bedroom has an en-suite, the home is spacious and has plenty of areas people can sit and socialise or have some quite time.

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

People did not always have appropriate assessments in place to assess mental capacity and the potential need for people to have legal restrictions placed upon them to keep them safe. People did not have their consent recorded in their care plan for the care in which they received.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice .

We found there was a lack of management oversight, and no formal audits were undertaken to monitor the daily running of the home. Medication health charts in place were not consistently completed and gaps in recordings were found.

Accident and incident recording was not effective or embedded in the home. Records lacked detail and no management oversight to mitigate the risks happening again.

Fire safety in the home lacked formal risk assessments and clear guidance for people to be evacuated. Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans lacked guidance and no review had taken place.

There was reduced activity provision within the home, which meant people at times were sat with nothing to do.

However, people living in the home told us they were happy and felt safe. People had good relationships with staff, staff took time to speak and interact with people.

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, 18 March 2022 .

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. We received concerns around the services management oversight and compliance.

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.

We have found evidence that the registered managers needed to make improvements. Please see the Safe, Effective and Well led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the registered managers to take at the end of this full report.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to Regulation 11(Consent), Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good governance).

Please see the action we have told the registered managers to take at the end of this report.

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 meet with the registered managers following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress The registered managers will also be required to submit an action plan to show progress made.