Long Meadow Care Home

Updated 1 October 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

One inspector undertook the inspection. An Expert by Experience spoke with people and their relatives over the phone. 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

Long Meadow Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Long Meadow Care home is a care home without nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection, we spoke with the nominated individual, registered manager, deputy head of care, two senior carers, three carers, one activity coordinator, one handy person and two domestic staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with 10 people living at the service and two relatives. 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 reviewed six medication administration records (MAR) and three care plans. We reviewed evidence following the inspection including training records and audits.

Updated 1 October 2022

About the service

Long Meadow Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 35 people. The service provides support to adults under the age of 65, adults over the age of 65, adults living with dementia and adults who require support with their mental health. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service.

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

Infection prevention and control practices were not always followed. We have made a recommendation around this. Governance oversight did not identify some of the issues found on inspection such as risk to people were not always assessed to minimise and manage the risk of harm and mandatory recruitment checks were not always completed.

People were protected from the risk of abuse or neglect; medication was managed safely and lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

Renovation works were being completed in the premises with a plan for further works to be completed. People had choice and control over their decisions and staff had the skills and training to provide safe care. People were supported to eat and drink to maintain a healthy lifestyle and staff worked with other agencies to ensure people had access to health and social care services.

Staff were caring and respected people’s privacy and promoted dignity and respect.

People received personalised support and there were a wide variety of activities offered. Complaints were responded to appropriately and staff had a good understand of how to provide good end of life care.

The registered manager promoted a culture of person-centred care and acted with a duty of candour. People were included in the development of the service and the manager promoted a culture of continuous learning and development.

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 Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 15 October 2020).

The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement or inadequate for the last seven consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to governance audits at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.