Carleton Court Residential Home Limited

Updated 16 February 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 Care Act 2014.

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

An inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Carleton Court Residential home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who used the service and 1 relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 4 members of care staff, the deputy and registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. These included people’s care records and medication records. We looked at staff records in relation to recruitment and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 16 February 2023

About the service

Carleton Court Residential home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to 20 older people at the time of our inspection. The service can support up to 24 people in 1 adapted building.

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

The registered manager’s checks didn’t identify that some of the equipment (call bells) that people use to alert staff were not always accessible or used effectively. Some call bells were not available to people or staff to access in some communal rooms and the registered manager was not fully aware of this.

We have made recommendation that the registered manager and provider ensure safety equipment is accessible to people and staff.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe living at Carleton Court Residential home, and they were happy with their care and support. Feedback from people reflected that staff knew and understood people well.

Infection prevention control practices were in place. Staff were following current guidance and maintaining appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) where it was appropriate. Additional cleaning of all areas and frequent touch surfaces was in place and recorded regularly by staff. Training included hand hygiene and other infection prevention control related training.

Medicines were stored, managed and administered safely and records regarding people’s medicines were completed effectively. Fire safety was managed well, and appropriate checks were in place. People received the medicines they needed to support their health needs. The registered manager closely monitored the use of any ‘when required’ medicines in an individualised way.

There were systems in place for communicating with people, their relatives and staff regarding peoples care and support. The environment was clean, safe and maintained to a good standard. It was also adapted to meet people’s needs.

Individualised risk assessments were in place to ensure people could take risks safely. Staff were confident about how to raise concerns to safeguard people. Robust recruitment and selection procedures ensured suitable staff were employed.

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.

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

Rating at last inspection and follow up

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 28 May 2021). and there were 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 these regulations.

Why we inspected

At our last inspection we recommended that improvements were made to the management of medicines. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on our recommendations and had made improvements to medicine records.

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.

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 requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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