Blackwell Care Centre

Blackwell Care Centre is a residential and nursing home providing personal and nursing care to up to 49 people accommodated across 2 floors of this purpose-built care home. The service provides support to younger and older people, people with a physical disability and people with a sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection there were 42 people using the service.

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

The service was not always safe. Staff did not always put their training into practice when supporting people. Accidents and incidents were not always reported. Medicines were not consistently managed safely.

There were not enough staff at night to meet people’s needs safely. Staff felt they needed more time to spend with people beyond task-focussed personal and nursing care. The provider had not consistently ensured staff had regular checks on their skills, competency, and confidence to carry out personal or nursing care.

People were not always 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.

People were not consistently involved in planning and reviewing their care, particularly where they were less able to communicate their needs. People were not consistently supported to take part in activities that were relevant or meaningful to them.

The service was not well led. The provider had not ensured they had systems and processes in place to robustly assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. People were placed at risk because issues with the quality of care were not consistently identified. There were missed opportunities for learning and improvement of care.

Staff understood how to recognise and report concerns or abuse. The service was kept clean and people were protected from the risk of an acquired health infection. People told us the quality and variety of the food was generally good. People had access to GP, dentist services and other healthcare professionals.

People and relatives spoke positively about the staff who provided support. They felt all staff were kind, caring and hard-working. The management team and staff team understood their roles and were open and honest during our inspection.

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 the service under the previous provider was outstanding (published on 22 January 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about how personal and nursing care was being planned and delivered. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to five regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider 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 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.