Oakdene Rest Home

Updated 3 December 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Oakdene Rest Home 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 used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and sought feedback from the local authority. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, senior carer, care assistant, housekeeper and cook.

We reviewed a range of records at the service, including; care plans, quality audits, accident and incidents, medicine administration and various policies and procedures. We asked the registered manager to send further records by email to support the inspection.

After the inspection

We sought feedback from relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We reviewed a range of records including; staff training, staff rotas and infection control procedures.

Updated 3 December 2021

About the service

Oakdene Rest Home accommodates 27 people in one adapted building. There were 26 people living at the home on the day of our inspection. Some people were living with dementia.

People's experience of using this service

People were interacting with one another and staff were engaging with people. A relative told us, “I didn’t want [my relative] to go into a care home. Saying that the care that she gets is good, she is safe and happy.”

Risks to people had been identified. Risk assessments contained all the information needed to ensure risks were kept to a minimum and detailed action/s staff needed to take, if risk did occur.

Medicines were safely managed. Since the last inspection the provider had created a new medicine dispensing room and implemented new quality control and auditing procedures. This enabled staff to safely manage and dispense medicines.

Staff were recruited safely. Recruitment checks had been carried out to ensure that staff were of good character and have the skills and experience necessary to provide care. There were enough staff to provide safe care.

The management had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The registered manager conducted audits to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. Staff told us they were supported by and able to approach management.

People were protected from abuse. Staff received safeguarding training and understood how to recognise signs of abuse and actions needed if abuse was suspected.

The registered manager and staff knew people well and quickly identified when people's needs changed. People who were unwell or needed extra support, were referred to health care professionals and other external agencies appropriately.

Care plans were updated regularly and were stored securely. They contained up-to date and relevant information to ensure people were safe and their choices were respected and recorded. This enabled staff to safely support people and understand how people wished to be supported.

People received care and support that was personalised to their individual needs. Staff had training to meet people's needs and had the skills to identify areas of concern.

Infection Prevention and Control policies and procedures were being followed. The premises looked clean and tidy and we were assured that the service had controls in place to minimise the risks posed by COVID-19.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 14 December 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

We undertook a focused inspection to look at the key questions of safe and well-led only. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. Therefore, we did not inspect them.

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.

Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained 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 Oakdene Rest Home 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.