Cherry Leas Care Home

Updated 19 November 2022

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.

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Cherry Leas 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. Cherry Leas 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 25 October 2022 and ended on 4 November 2022. We visited the location’s service on 25 October 2022.

What we did before 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 spent time observing people and the care they received. We spoke with two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care records, monitoring charts and medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found on inspection and we reviewed training records and quality assurance documentation.

Updated 19 November 2022

About the service

Cherry Leas Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 16 people. The service provides support to older people and people living with dementia. Cherry Leas Care Home accommodates 16 people in one adapted building. At the time of our inspection there were 9 people using the service.

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

The provider had initiated and implemented improvements since our last inspection. The provider had registered with the Care Quality Commission as manager of the service and was supported by a senior care worker who was taking over some management tasks. The provider had a strong focus on making improvements to the service and on creating a positive culture for the people who live there and the staff team.

The management of risks to people’s safety had improved. There were processes to identify risks and evidence action was taken to address these. Risks were monitored and assessments had been updated. There was a process in place to oversee incidents and accidents and to assess these for themes so action could be taken to mitigate further risk.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. The provider was aware of how to make statutory notifications to CQC and these had been made regarding serious injury to people who use the service and safeguarding referrals made to the local authority.

There were enough staff to support people to stay safe and meet their needs. Staff spoke positively about the improvements to the service and said they felt able to raise concerns.

People were supported by staff who knew them well and people’s relatives spoke positively about the care they received.

People received their medicines as prescribed. The provider had assessed staff competency to help ensure they understood how to support people appropriately with their medicines. 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.

The management of infection control processes had improved. The provider followed national guidance in relation to infection control. The premises at Cherry Leas Care Home were clean and hygienic and there were areas that had been refurbished.

The provider had improved the systems to assess the quality of the service provided, by introducing quality assurance processes to identify areas for improvement.

The provider and staff team had developed positive working relationships with external stakeholders and other healthcare professionals. There was clear evidence of the provider working in partnership to make improvements to the service.

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 26 May 2022) 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 the regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 26 May 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that 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

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 27 April 2022. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and good governance.

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 and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 Inadequate to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Cherry Leas 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.