Background to this inspection
Updated
13 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
The inspection was prompted by significant concerns raised from the local authority, safeguarding team, healthcare professionals and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Inspection team:
The inspection was completed by three inspectors.
Service and service type:
Cornelia Heights is a care home registered to accommodate up to 23 older people living with physical frailty or dementia. 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:
We did not give notice of our inspection. Inspection site visit activity started on the 2 April 2019 and ended on 4 April 2019.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also reviewed information we had received from the local authority, safeguarding team and healthcare professionals.
During the inspection we gathered information from:
¿ Two people using the service.
¿ The providers.
¿ The registered manager.
¿ The deputy manager.
¿ Six care staff.
¿ Two social care professionals.
¿ 15 people’s records in relation to medicine management.
¿ Six people’s care records in detail.
¿ Records of accidents, incidents and complaints.
¿ Audits and quality assurance reports.
¿ Staff training records.
¿ Staff rotas.
Updated
13 February 2020
About the service:
Cornelia Heights 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. Cornelia Heights is registered to provide care for up to 23 people, including people living with dementia and physical frailty. At the time of the inspection, there were 20 people living at the service.
People’s experience of using this service:
Risks to the health and safety of people were not being managed safely.
People’s health was not always monitored effectively and guidance from healthcare professionals was not always followed or requested in a timely way.
Risk assessments in place were not always followed to ensure people’s safety was maintained.
Risks posed by the environment were not managed effectively.
Medicines were not always managed in a safe way and this meant people were at risk of not receiving the medicines they needed safely.
There were not always enough suitable staff deployed to meet people's needs and keep them safe.
Records were not always accurately maintained or up to date. This meant that people were at risk of receiving care which was not appropriate.
There was not a robust process in place to monitor, act upon and analyse incidents, accidents and near misses. This placed people at continued risk of harm.
There was a lack of management oversight in relation to the care and service provided. Quality and safety systems were not adequate and did not identify significant risks to people or service wide failings.
Managers had not acted promptly when concerns had been raised with them.
Managers lacked knowledge and understanding of best practice guidance and CQC were not always notified of significant events.
Systems were not in place to allow continuous learning and improving care.
The provider's systems for monitoring and improving the quality of the service had not been effective, because people were not always receiving a good quality of service and risks had not been mitigated.
During and following the inspection our findings were reported to the local safeguarding team and fire service.
Why we inspected:
The inspection was prompted by significant concerns raised from the local authority, safeguarding team, healthcare professionals and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). A focused inspection was completed; which looked at both the ‘Safe’ and ‘Well led’ only in line with the concerns that had been raised.
Rating at last inspection:
The service was rated as requires improvement at the last full comprehensive inspection, the report was published on 5 November 2018. After the last inspection the provider sent us an action plan to tell us how they would address the areas we raised on inspection. At this inspection we found the provider had not made sufficient improvements to address all these concerns. We also found additional significant concerns which has resulted in the rating for key questions in relation to ‘Safe’ and ‘Well led’ as being inadequate.
Enforcement:
Five breaches in regulatory requirements were identified at this inspection. You can see what action we asked the provider to take at the end of the report. Full information about CQC's regulatory response to more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Special measures:
The rating for this service is Inadequate and the service is therefore in special measures. 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.