About the service Garsewednack Residential Home is a residential care home that provides care and accommodation for up to 21 older people, some of whom were living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 18 people living in the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Staff and the registered manager were kind, caring and compassionate. People were supported to maintain their independence and staff acted to ensure people’s dignity was protected.
Although the service had a number of staff vacancies, people had received the support they needed. Rotas showed staff and the registered manager were completing additional shifts to ensure planned staffing levels were achieved. People told us, “There are enough staff” and reported that staff responded quickly to any requests for assistance or support.
Recruitment was ongoing and records showed all necessary checks had been completed to ensure new staff were suitable for employment in the care sector.
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 registered manager and staff team had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and consistently acted in people’s best interests.
Peoples needs were assessed and identified before they moved into the service and the service had appropriately supported people to access external healthcare professionals. Risks in relation to people’s support needs had been identified and managed appropriately to protect people from the risk of harm.
People were complimentary of the food and all staff had a good understanding of people’s nutritional needs and dietary preferences.
The premises were clean and reasonably well decorated. Necessary safety checks had been completed by appropriately qualified external contractors.
The service was well led. The registered manager provided effective leadership and staff reported they were well supported. Quality assurance systems had identified that staffing pressures and restrictions associated with the Covid- 19 pandemic had impacted on training updates and the quality of some record keeping. Appropriate plans had been developed to address and resolve these issues prior to our inspection. A staff member, on restricted duties, had been allocated the responsibility for addressing the recording issues and additional in house and external training had been arranged.
We were assured that risks in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic had been managed appropriately. Staff had access to PPE and hand washing facilities, which they used effectively and safely. Regular testing was underway we were assured there were appropriate procedures in place to prevent the spread of the infection.
Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines on time and as prescribed.
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 good. (Report published on 3 April 2019).
Why we inspected
Prior to the inspection we received information of concern in relation to the service’s admissions processes and management of risks in relation to hydration and nutrition. As a result, we carried out a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections 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.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.