Dovehaven Residential Care Home

Updated 23 December 2021

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

Dovehaven Residential Care Home 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.

The service had a manager who was in the process of becoming registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are 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 and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 13 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including members of the quality and compliance team, the manager and the regional manager. We also spoke with a visiting healthcare professional. We undertook a tour of the building and observed the delivery of care and support provided to people throughout the day.

We reviewed a range of records. This included multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the safety of the environment and the management of the service were 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. We spoke with four relatives to help us understand their experience of the care and support their loved ones received. We also spoke with three members of care staff.

Updated 23 December 2021

About the service

Dovehaven Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 27 older people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 40 people. The service is situated in a converted Victorian dwelling and accommodation is over three floors.

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

People living at the home told us they were happy with the care and support received at Dovehaven Residential Care Home. The home had a welcoming and warm atmosphere and people were treated in a respectful and compassionate way. We witnessed positive interactions between staff and the people they supported.

Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and recruitment processes ensured new staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Systems were in place to help identify risk to people and ensure that any risks were managed and mitigated effectively.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s care and support needs and staff had been trained and had their competency checked, to enable them to perform their role.

Infection control was managed effectively, and the home was clean and well maintained. Visiting was facilitated in a safe way to ensure people’s well-being was promoted by maintaining relationships that were important to them.

Whilst we were assured that 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; and the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. We have made a recommendation about the recording of consent to care and support in people’s records.

Since the last inspection, a new manager had been appointed to the home, they had begun to embed governance systems and processes which were focused on achieving person centred outcomes for people. People, their relatives and staff spoke positively about the manager.

The management team had auditing systems to maintain oversight of the service and make improvements where necessary. We have made a recommendation about further developing auditing and governance processes.

Quality assurance processes ensured people were able to give their views of the service. We found the management team responded to feedback to improve the lives of people.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service under the key questions of Safe and Well-led was requires improvement (published 17 March 2021) 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 and breaches of regulation.

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.

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.