Updated 10 May 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
Three inspectors, including a member of the CQC medicines team carried out the inspection.
Service and service type
Kingsdown House 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 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. When we visited on the first day of inspection 25 January 2022, we found the service had an outbreak of COVID-19. We inspected the area of infection prevention and control on the second day, 26 January 2022. A manager from one of the provider’s other services was present during this. We then paused the inspection until the COVID-19 outbreak had ended and we returned on 8 February 2022 to continue the inspection, ending on 10 February 2022. The registered manager was present for the rest of the inspection.
What we did before inspection
We asked for feedback about the service from local authority commissioners and the local Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
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 reviewed the information the provider had sent us, such as notifications of significant events the provider is obliged to send without delay. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke/communicated with three people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spent time with all the people living at Kingsdown House in the communal areas on each day of the inspection, observing their day and how they communicated and interacted with staff. This helped us to understand their body language and limited verbal/nonverbal communication when seeking feedback.
We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, senior support staff and support workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records. We reviewed nine medicine administration 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 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.