Background to this inspection
Updated
29 July 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This Inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
Ashley Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.
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
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 all of this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service. We spoke with seven members of staff including, the registered manager, clinical lead, carers, housekeeping and kitchen staff. Some people were not able to fully share with us their experiences using the service. Therefore, we spent time observing interactions between people and the staff supporting them.
We reviewed a range of records. This included multiple medication records and four people's care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits were reviewed.
After our inspection site visit, we contacted three relatives to ask about their experience of the service. We contacted three staff to ask them about how they cared for people and their experience of working at Ashley Care Centre. We reviewed further records this included four people's care records, staff training information, staff rotas and policies.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
29 July 2021
About the service
Ashley Care Centre is a care home providing personal and nursing care for 40 people, at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 49 people in one adapted building across three units.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Infection control practices were consistent, and we were assured the provider was following government guidance in relation to protecting people from COVID-19. Following a recent infection control audit the registered manager developed an action plan which demonstrated clear timescales and who was responsible. Some of the furniture required replacing for it to be cleaned effectively, the registered manager was in the process of having these items replaced
People were kept safe and there were suffcient staff to provide support to meet their needs. People were protected from the risk of harm and staff were aware of how to recognise potential abuse and how to act to keep people safe. People received their prescribed medicines safely. Staff had been recruited safely and had received training in order to support people safely.
Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. People told us they felt their views were listened to in order to improve the service. Staff worked in partnership with other health and social care professionals to ensure people received the care they needed.
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 19 March 2021) and there were multiple breaches of regualtion.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 carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 21 January 2021. 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.
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. 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.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. 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 Ashley Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.