Archived: Penerley Lodge Care Centre

Updated 15 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Penerley Lodge Care Centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 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. This included notifications of significant incidents reported to the CQC and the previous inspection report. 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 spoke with the registered manager, the administrator, three care assistants, the chef and the laundry assistant. We spoke with six people who used the service and reviewed seven people’s care and medicine records. We looked at five staff files and various records relating to the quality and safety of the service, such as policies and procedures, fire risk assessments and the providers quality assurance checks and audits.

After the inspection

We spoke with three relatives and received feedback from two professionals. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found

Updated 15 February 2022

About the service

Penerley Lodge Care Centre is a care home which provides accommodation and support to up to 28 people aged 65 and over, including people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection 25 people were living at the home.

People’s experience of using this service

The provider had made some improvements to their recruitment processes, however, we found further improvements were needed as full pre-employment checks had not always been completed. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were identified and effective measures put in place to mitigate these. People’s medicines were stored and managed safely. There were safe infection control procedures to reduce the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provider had made several improvements to the building since our last inspection. There were a range of audits and checks carried out to maintain quality and safety. Despite improvements some elements of service delivery such as activities and food choices were not always person-centred. We have made a recommendation about person-centred activities and meal choices. The provider worked with a range of healthcare professionals. However, the service had experienced issues getting regular appointments with the NHS podiatry service. We have made a recommendation about podiatry care.

We received mainly positive feedback about the home from everyone we spoke with. A relative told us, “Honestly the home is fantastic. We’ve never had any occasions to complain. From our experience the staff including managers are kind and caring.”

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 under the previous provider was requires improvement (published 19 March 2020).

Why we inspected

We carried out this inspection following a routine review of information we held about this service which indicated there may be a higher level of risk at this service.

Enforcement

We have identified a continued breach in relation to safe recruitment practices. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.