Arden Court

Updated 24 March 2021

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 the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 5 March 2021 and was announced.

Updated 24 March 2021

About the service

Arden Court is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 35 people at the time of the inspection. The service accommodates up to 47 people in one building split between two floors.

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

People told us they felt safe. Staff had a good understanding of how to safeguard people from abuse. The service had made improvements to the medicine’s issues and management of risks raised at the last inspection. The service worked closely with the clinical commissioning group (CCG) to implement changes and ensure medicines were managed safely. Care plans included risk assessments in relation to people’s specific care needs. Risks associated with eating and drinking and people’s pressure care were managed appropriately.

People’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this. One person told us, “I cannot be any happier here.”

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.

Staff engaged with people in a friendly and caring manner and their conversations with people were good natured. Staff were also attentive to people's needs. People told us staff were kind and sensitive, and their comments included, “Staff are all lovely” and “The carers are all great.”

The service used an electronic care planning system and people's care plans were personalised, which included detailed information about their individual needs, abilities and preferences. It was evident people and their relatives had been involved in the development of people’s care plans and their reviews.

People had the option to make their end of life wishes known and detailed end of life care plans were in place. We read many compliments regarding end of life care which included, “We wish to thank you for the superb care and kindness that was shown to [person] when they were in your care. It meant so very much to them.”

The service had made improvements to their governance systems and effective monitoring systems were in place. After the shortfalls identified at the last inspection, the service had implemented a robust action plan. The service worked closely with external teams and professionals to improve standards. Quality assurance procedures were revised to ensure quality was improved throughout the service. Effective governance systems ensured the registered manager had clear oversight of 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 requires improvement (published 31 January 2019) and there were two 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.