Chevington House

Updated 4 February 2020

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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Chevington House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 six people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the provider, registered manager, care assistants and the cook. We also spoke with one visiting healthcare professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 4 February 2020

About the service

Chevington House is a residential care home which provides accommodation and personal care for up to 16 older adults and people living with dementia. There were 13 people living at Chevington House on the day of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service

People were protected from abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about how to recognise and report abuse. Systems were in place to ensure the safety of people being supported. Risks were assessed and managed. The providers approaches toward management of risk had improved. Care plans and risk assessments contained clear information about how to reduce and manage risks.

Medicines were managed appropriately. Improvements had been made to ensure people who needed ‘as needed’ PRN medicines had a clear protocol in place and staff had regular medicines competency observations. Accidents and incidents were recorded, and measures were taken to ensure lessons were learnt. Staffing levels met people's needs. Improvements had been made to ensure staff were recruited safely. Improvements to the environmental safety were made.

People’s needs were assessed, and outcomes were met. People told us their needs were met well. People told us food was good quality, the cook had systems in place to ensure that people ate and drank what they wanted and liked. Staff told us they received training to do their job well and were supported in their roles. People’s consent to care was sought. 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.

Staff were caring thoughtful and attentive. People consistently told us staff were kind and caring and they were treated well. People were given the opportunity to express their views regularly and were involved in their care. Staff were knowledgeable about how to maintain people's privacy and dignity.

People were receiving care that was responsive to their needs. Improvements were made to ensure assessment and care planning captured people’s wishes and care was delivered by staff who understand the needs of the people they were supporting. People knew how to complain and raise concerns and were listened to. People took part in regular activities of their choosing. Staff were enthusiastic and keen for people to try new things.

The registered manager had made several improvements toward risk management, assessment, care planning, medicines and quality audits. The registered manager strived to provide good quality care to people living in the home and had worked hard to make necessary improvements. Staff were complimentary about the support they received from their manager. People told us they knew the manager and that issues were resolved quickly. Feedback from external professionals demonstrated good working relationships had been developed. Staff stated that morale within the team was good and they worked closely together.

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 Inadequate (Published 24 April 2019) and there were multiple 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.

At this inspection, we found the provider had made the required improvements and was now meeting the regulations. While improvements have been made we have not given an overall rating of 'Good'; to improve the rating to 'Good' would require a longer-term track record of consistent good practice.

This service has been in Special Measures since January 2019. During this inspection the provider demonstrated improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.