Abbotsfield Hall Residential Home

Updated 9 February 2023

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.

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

The inspection team was made up of one inspector, an assistant inspector 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

Abbotsfield Hall 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. Abbotsfield Hall 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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 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

We spoke with four people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with six relatives on the telephone. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager and the deputy manager. We also spoke with two visiting healthcare professionals. We reviewed a range of records this included four care plans and several medicine records. We viewed four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We looked at a variety of governance records relating to the management of the home which included policies and procedures.

Updated 9 February 2023

About the service

Abbotsfield Hall Residential Home (thereafter referred to as Abbotsfield Hall) is a residential care home providing personal care for older people. Abbotsfield Hall is registered to accommodate 28 people, at the time of the inspection 18 people lived at the service.

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

People told us they felt safe living at Abbotsfield Hall. The registered manager and staff knew how to protect people from the risk of harm or abuse. There were enough numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs. Staff were recruited safely and received an induction and training to ensure they could meet people’s health and care requirements.

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.

People received their medicines as prescribed and systems were in place to receive, store and manage medicines safely. Staff followed infection control guidance and had access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

We have made a recommendation about the further development of care records.

Staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Staff liaised with health and social care professionals to ensure people’s health and care needs were met. The provider carried out regular audits of the service to oversee the quality of the care provided to people.

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 was requires improvement (published 22 October 2021).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 26 and 27 August 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance. We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements.

This report only covers our finding in relation to the Safe and Well-led key questions, which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good, based on the findings of this inspection.

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 read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Abbotsfield Hall Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.