Greenbanks

Updated 30 June 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 completed by two inspectors 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

Greenbanks 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. Greenbanks 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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had been recruited but they were not yet in post. There was an interim manager and handover arrangements planned.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 22 May 2023 and ended on 2 June 2023 We visited the location’s service on 22 and 31 May 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 spoke with 3 people who used the service and 13 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 12 members of staff including the regional director, interim manager, deputy manager, care team leaders and care staff. We reviewed 12 people's care files and 3 staff personnel files. We also reviewed records relating to managing the service.

Updated 30 June 2023

About the service

Greenbanks is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 66 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 56 people using the service.

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

People's records did not always contain all the information staff needed to provide safe care and their medicines were not always managed well. Staff did not always report safeguarding concerns and we did not see any evidence of learning from incidents. Staff had not always been recruited safely. People were not always supported by enough staff.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. People were not always supported by staff with the necessary skills.

The provider’s processes to monitor the safety and quality of the service were not effective.

Some staff were not always open and honest when mistakes were made.

The new leadership team had a good understanding of the issues with the service and had plans to rectify them. Staff found the interim manager approachable and supportive. People’s families were kept informed and spoke positively about the care received.

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 21 October 2022). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last three consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines and oversight of the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.

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 remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Greenbanks on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safeguarding, management of risk and medicines, staff recruitment and competency, consent and governance at this inspection.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.