North Corner Residential Care Home

Updated 26 May 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

North Corner Residential Care Home 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. North Corner Residential Care Home 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 a registered manager in post. They were also the provider for the service. They were supported in the day to day running of the home by a care manager.

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 (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 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we reviewed the records of the home. These included recruitment records, accidents and incidents and quality assurance audits. We looked at medicine administration, 4 care plans and risk assessments, along with other relevant documentation to support our findings. We spoke with everyone who lived at the home and got feedback from 2 of them and 3 visitors. We spoke with 6 staff members; this included the provider. We also received feedback from 3 health and social care professionals.

We observed people in areas throughout the home and could see the interaction between people and staff. We watched how people were being supported by staff in communal areas, this included the lunchtime meals.

Updated 26 May 2023

About the service

North Corner Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to a maximum of 16 people. The service provides support to older people who require support with some aspects of their daily living. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service.

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

The systems and processes followed by the provider failed to identify that care and treatment was unsafe. We identified several safeguarding incidents that had not been reported to the local authority or to the CQC. There was no oversight of safeguarding incidents by the provider.

Risks were not managed safely, or fully identified. Where risks were identified there was not always guidance to inform staff how to support people safely and consistently. Environmental risks were not managed safely, for example, there had been no recent fire risk assessment and there were no regular fire safety checks. The home was not clean and tidy and needed general maintenance throughout. Improvements were needed to ensure medicines were managed safely. Recruitment procedures were not robust and did not ensure staff were suitable to work at the home.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

A quality assurance system had previously been in place, but there had been no recent audits or oversight by the provider for a number of months. Records were not completed accurately and there was an apparent lack of commitment by the staff to improve and develop the home. Although the provider was aware of some of the concerns we identified, action had not been taken in a timely way to address these.

We observed staff engaging with people and supporting them with kindness. People approached staff freely. People told us the staff were kind and relatives spoke highly of the staff team.

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 01 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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 changed from Good to Inadequate based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

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 North Corner Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding, fit and proper persons employed, need for consent, premises and equipment, good governance and notifications of other incidents.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Special Measures:

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.

If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe and there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.

For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.