19 July 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Maple Court Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 42 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 80 people in one adapted building, over two floors. At the time of the inspection there were two separate units, one on each floor, providing support to people with differing needs. Saunders unit was upstairs and predominantly supported people living with dementia or other mental health needs and Elizabeth unit was on the ground floor.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe at the service, however some people said there weren’t enough staff to meet their needs. Improvements had been made to the way people’s risks were managed and we saw people’s falls had reduced as a result of this.
There had been improvements to infection control practices though further improvements were required. People’s medicines were now managed safely.
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. However, there were some inconsistencies in the way staff applied the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
People were treated with kindness and compassion; however, some people felt staff deployment impacted on their choice and control.
A new registered manager was in post since the last inspection and they had implemented new ways to manage and monitor the quality and safety of the service. These were working well but needed to be further embedded into practice and sustained.
Some staff did not feel well supported and involved in the service, but other staff told us they felt the registered manager had a positive impact on the service.
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 inadequate (published 6 February 2021) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. We took enforcement action and the provider completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made in most areas, though further improvements were required, and the provider was still in breach of some regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since the last inspection. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that some improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 2, 4 and 10 December 2020. Five 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 safe care and treatment, safeguarding, staffing, dignity, good governance and notifications to CQC.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm whether they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Caring and Well-led which contain those requirements.
A rating from a previous comprehensive inspection for the Responsive Key Question was used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. 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 COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Maple Court Nursing Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
We have identified breaches in relation to staffing and governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
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.