Holt House

Updated 27 February 2024

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 carried out by 1 inspector and an expert by experience. 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:

Holt House 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. 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.

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 spoke with 6 people who used the service and 3 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with 5 members of staff including the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people’s care plans, 2 staff recruitment files, staff training records and records associated with the provider's quality monitoring systems.

Updated 27 February 2024

About the service:

Holt House is a care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 32 people, some of whom were living with dementia. There were 26 people using the service at the time of the inspection.

People's experience of using this service and what we found:

People living at the home and relatives felt the service was safe. There were enough staff available and correct staff recruitment procedures were followed. Risks were effectively managed at the home and accidents and incidents were monitored to prevent them reoccurring in the future.

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. Some mental capacity assessments had not been completed where restrictions were in place, however the registered manager took appropriate actions to ensure these were implemented.

Everybody we spoke with told us there was good management and leadership at the home. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of service through audits, meetings and satisfaction surveys. The home worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure positive outcomes for people. The home used an electronic system to record when people had received personal care, although these were not always fully completed by staff. The registered manager was aware of this and was addressing this with staff.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for the service was good (published 10 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Holt House 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.