Archived: The Cookham Riverside

Updated 5 September 2020

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place. As part of CQC’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are conducting a thematic review of infection control and prevention measures in care homes.

This inspection took place on 18 August 2020 and was announced. The service was selected to take part in this thematic review, which is seeking to identify examples of good practice in infection prevention and control.

Updated 5 September 2020

This inspection took place on 26 October 2017. It was an unannounced visit to the service.

We previously inspected the service in October 2016. The service was not meeting all of the requirements of the regulations at that time. At the last inspection we found breaches of the regulations in relation to recruitment practice and notifying us of events which they were required to. We asked the provider to take action to address these breaches. They sent us an improvement plan which outlined what they would do to remedy matters. During this inspection we saw the required improvements had been made.

The Cookham Riverside is a nursing home which provides nursing and personal care for up to 35 older people. Twenty five people were living at the service at the time of our visit.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run. The service was managed well overall. However, we have needed to put a limiter on the rating of the ‘well-led’ domain due to a condition of registration not being fully met. This needs attention by the provider and registered manager.

We received positive feedback about the service. Comments from people included “Lovely people here, very good, no complaints at all. Staff treat me very well indeed,” “The staff are nice and talkative” and “Carers are very good.” Feedback from a community professional included “I have no concerns regarding the standard of care available and wish all the homes I visited were as welcoming and caring as the staff at Cookham Riverside. If I had an elderly relative I would happily place them in this home.”

People were cared for by staff who had been recruited appropriately. Staff received support to help them meet people’s needs. This included training and meeting with their managers to discuss practice.

People were safeguarded against the risk of abuse. Staff knew how to raise any concerns. There were procedures for them to follow if they felt people were being harmed in any way. People received the healthcare support they needed; their medicines were managed well and given to them in accordance with their prescriptions.

The care and support people needed had been recorded in care plans. There were risk assessments to reduce the likelihood of people being harmed or injured whilst they received support. Both types of document had been reviewed regularly to make sure they kept pace with changes to people’s circumstances.

People knew how to raise any concerns and were relaxed when speaking with staff and the registered manager. Complaints were responded to appropriately. People were asked for their views about the home in reviews and via surveys. The quality of people’s care was regularly monitored.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The building was well maintained and complied with gas and electrical safety standards. Equipment was serviced to make sure it was in safe working order. Evacuation plans had been written for each person, to help support them safely in the event of an emergency.