Templemore Care Home

Updated 10 March 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by 2 inspectors. An Expert by Experience contacted people’s relatives via telephone following the 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

Templemore Care Home 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. Templemore Care Home 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 was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 28 February and ended on 2 March 2023. We visited the service on 28 February and 1 March 2023.

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 (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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

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 9 people who used the service and 12 relatives and friends. We also spoke with 16 members of staff including care staff, housekeeping, cook, maintenance, activities engagement lead, team leader, assistant manager, care manager and registered manager. We looked at care records of 6 people, and a number of records in relation to medicine administration. 4 staff recruitment files and a range of documents relating to policy and procedures and quality assurance.

Updated 10 March 2023

About the service

Templemore Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 65 older people, younger adults or people with dementia. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 59 people in one adapted building. The service was separated into 3 units. People lived in the unit which best met their individual needs.

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

People were cared for safely. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing had been identified and plans were in place to mitigate risk. They could be assured they lived in a clean and well-maintained environment. Staff knew how to protect people from harm and staff had been recruited safely. People’s medicines were managed, and they received them on time.

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 understood people’s needs and had the skills and knowledge to deliver individualised care. People’s nutritional needs were met, and they were supported to access other health and social care professionals. Staff were trained and encouraged to develop their knowledge and practice.

People could be assured they received care that was person-centred from staff who knew them well. Staff supported people to remain in contact with family and friends and provided them with a variety of activities and entertainment to stimulate and occupy them.

People were listened to and knew how to raise a complaint if they needed to. People and staff were confident the registered manager would act upon any concerns they raised.

Staff were supported through supervisions and enabled to give their feedback and share ideas. People’s feedback was sought, and people were encouraged to take part in the running of the home through assisting with staff recruitment and being involved in decisions about décor.

The registered manager had good oversight of the service and strived to continuously improve the service.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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 requires improvement (published 02 November 2021) and there was a breach 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.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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. 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 Templemore Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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