Allington House

Updated 18 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 27 January 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 18 February 2022

About the service

Allington House is a residential care home that provides accommodation and personal care for up to 49 people, some of whom were living with dementia. On the day of our visit there were 46 people using the service.

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

People were happy living at Allington House and felt safe. Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place to protect people from abuse. Staff were confident any concerns raised would be taken seriously by management. Medicines had improved; however, work was still needed to make sure staff made clear records, so they could be understood.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and staff were recruited safely. Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their role effectively. 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 home supported this practice. People were happy with the food provided

We have made a recommendation about up to date guidance for kitchen staff and updating the menus to include all preferences.

Staff were caring and treated people with kindness. People were treated with dignity and respect.

People had clear, detailed and person-centred care plans, which guided staff on the most appropriate way to support them. People received kind and compassionate end of life care.

There was a clear management structure and staff were supported by the registered manager and provider. Quality assurance systems were now completed in a robust and consistent manner.

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 22 August 2018) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. 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

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.