Franklin House

Updated 5 November 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 22 October 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 November 2020

About the service

Franklin House is a nursing home for people over the age of 65 years. The home caters for people who need care at the end of their lives, people with general nursing needs, people living with the experience of dementia and people who need short stay accommodation. At the time of the inspection 61 people were living at the service.

The service is managed by Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd, a private organisation providing health and adult social care across the United Kingdom.

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

People were happy living at the service. They felt well supported and cared for. They said that the staff treated them with kindness and respect. Their needs were being met and they felt involved in their care. People's relatives were also happy with the service. They said they were well informed and able to contribute their views on how people were cared for.

The staff told us they enjoyed working at the service. They felt well supported and had the training and information they needed to provide effective care. They took part in regular meetings and were able to share their views about the service and improvements they felt were needed. There were systems in place to make sure only suitable staff were employed.

The provider employed staff who organised, planned and facilitated a range of different leisure activities involving children and adults from the community. The staff had developed comprehensive life story books for each person which included information and photographs from their past, as well as documenting the things they had done since moving to the service. All of the staff, as well as people's friends and families, used these books to encourage conversations.

The provider aimed that people should remain in the service for the end of their lives if this was their wish. They provided exceptional care, pain relief and comfort for people at this time, as well as supporting people's families.

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 were safely cared for. Risks to their safety and well being were assessed and planned for. They received their medicines in a safe way and as prescribed. The premises and equipment were safe, clean and regularly checked to make sure they stayed so. The provider operated effective systems for safeguarding people from abuse, reporting accidents and incidents and dealing with complaints.

People were able to make choices about the food they ate and drank. The staff made sure they stayed hydrated. Individual dietary needs were catered for and the staff monitored people's weight to make sure they identified changes to this. People had access to external healthcare professionals and the staff liaised with these professionals, so people's healthcare needs could be met.

The registered manager was experienced and knew the service and individual people who lived there well. They worked closely with the staff and monitored all aspects of the service. The provider's senior management team regularly visited the service. The provider had taken action where improvements were needed. They gathered feedback from people using the service, staff and other stakeholders and acted on this feedback to improve the service.

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 Good (published 10 March 2017)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.