Bowley Court

Updated 3 February 2022

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 Care Act 2014.

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 carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Bowley Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At the time of the inspection the service had a manager in post but they were not yet registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means the provider is solely legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We were unable to speak with people who use the service. We spent time to see how people were cared for by staff. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with four members of staff including the manager, nurse and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 3 February 2022

About the service

Bowley Court is a care home providing nursing care for up to 20 people. It specialises in supporting people who have complex neurological needs including Huntington’s Disease, acquired brain injury (for example, due to a head injury or stroke) or people with mental health needs who also have physical disabilities. Care and support are provided in one adapted building and there were 17 people using the service at the time of the inspection.

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

People's safety risks and needs had been identified and plans in place to facilitate risk reduction. Staff knew what actions to take in the event of any safeguarding concerns and were confident senior staff would take action to protect people. There were sufficient staff to meet people's safety needs, however, the manager and provider recognised additional recruitment would enable staff to support people to spending more time doing things they enjoyed. People were supported by staff who had been trained to provide them with the medicines they need to remain well.

There had been changes to staff managing the location since our last inspection. The new manager had started their application to become registered with the CQC. The manager was developing their checks to include further spot checks at different times. The provider was also reviewing accidents and significant events.

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.

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 (report published 27 November 2020).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staff culture. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

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 found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bowley Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.