7 November 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Elizabeth House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 30 people. At the time of our inspection there were 28 people living at the home. The home is an adapted building set in its own grounds, opposite Alexandra Park and about a mile from Oldham town centre.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People’s medicines were not always managed safely. Some people had not received their medicines as prescribed by their doctor. There had been recent concerns about infection prevention and control at the home, with an infestation of mice and poor standard of cleanliness in the kitchen. However, the provider had taken prompt action to rectify the problem and there was ongoing work to improve the standard of decoration within the home.
Staff had completed training in safeguarding and knew how to recognise and report abuse or neglect. The service had a safe recruitment process which ensured only suitable staff were employed. Staff were aware of risks to people's health and wellbeing and knew how to manage them.
Improvements had been made to staff training since our last inspection. Staff were appropriately trained and received supervision and support from the management team. 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. Staff respected people's choices and independence. People's health and wellbeing was monitored and staff sought advice from outside health care professionals when needed. People's dietary needs were met.
There had been a change of ownership and management of the service since our last inspection. People, relatives and staff all spoke positively about changes that were taking place at the service. Audits to monitor standards at the home had been carried out regularly. However, medicines audits had not always been completed correctly which meant missed medicines had not been identified or any remedial action taken.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 19 February 2021). There was a breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection the provider remained in breach of regulations, and their rating remained requires improvement.
At our last inspection we recommended the provider improve staff training. At this inspection we found this had been completed. However, we found concerns around the management of medicines.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection and to respond to concerns we had received about infection prevention and control.
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.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
We have found evidence the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
Recommendations and enforcement
We have identified a breach of regulations in relation to safe care and treatment.
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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.