Rusthall Lodge Care Home

Updated 8 January 2020

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of two inspector’s 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

Rusthall Lodge Care Home 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 site visit took place on 28 November 2019 and was unannounced.

What we did

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must tell us about, such as any safeguarding alerts they had raised. Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. 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. We used this information to help inform our inspection planning.

During the inspection we spoke with seven people using the service and six visiting relatives to seek their feedback on the service. We also 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 spoke with ten members of staff including the operations manager, registered manager, deputy manager, nursing and care staff, cook kitchen and housing keeping staff, community relations officer and lifestyle co-ordinators. We reviewed a range of records including 10 people’s care plans and records and five staff recruitment and training records. We also reviewed records used in managing the service for example, policies and procedures, monitoring records and minutes of meetings.

Updated 8 January 2020

About the service

Rusthall Lodge Care Home provides residential and nursing care and accommodation for up to 69 older people. It also offers respite care services for short stays. At the time of our inspection there were 65 people living at the service. The home is spread over three floors and is situated within quiet rural grounds in Kent.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and said staff were kind, caring and supportive. Throughout our inspection we observed staff interacted positively with people and had formed respectful relationships with them and their relatives.

The service had safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures and how to keep people safe. People's needs, and preferences were assessed and risks were identified with plans in place to manage risks safely. Medicines were administered and managed safely and staff followed infection control practices to prevent the spread of infections. Robust recruitment checks were in place and there were sufficient staff available to meet people's needs promptly. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. Staff were appropriately supported through induction, training and supervision.

People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet that met their cultural and dietary preferences. 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 support this practice. People were involved in and consulted about their care and support needs. People had access to health and social care professionals as required. People were supported to participate in activities of their choosing that met their needs and interests. Staff worked with people to promote their rights and understood the Equality Act 2010 supporting people appropriately addressing any protected characteristics.

There were effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. The service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to plan and deliver an effective service. The service took people’s and staff’s views into account to help drive service improvements.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Published 9 May 2017).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit in line with our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect the service sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the website at www.cqc.org.uk