Allerton Court

Updated 19 February 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors, an assistant inspector, a pharmacist 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

Allerton Court is a care home, which provides accommodation and personal care for older people. 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 was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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 with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who use the service and four relatives. We spoke with five members of care staff, one member of administration staff, the chef, four visiting professionals and the Registered Manager.

We looked at four people’s care records, including their Medication Administration Records (MAR), three staff recruitment records and records relating to the governance of the service. This included quality assurance audits, records of accidents and incidents and complaints made. We made observations of the care of people throughout the inspection.

What we did after the inspection

We received and reviewed the training matrix from the provider and saw that staff had received appropriate training, which was updated as required. We checked the providers website had been updated to include the homes previous ratings report. (Prior to the inspection we had discovered that the provider had omitted to include the report on their website. This had been an oversight as all their other locations had been included. This was rectified and checked following the inspection).

Updated 19 February 2020

About the service

Allerton Court is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 48 older people. At the time of the inspection 45 people were living at the home.

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

Whilst improvements around medicines had been made, further improvements were required. People received their medicines as expected, but we found medicines were not always stored correctly and the use of some medicines were not always documented as required. Quality monitoring systems were in place. However, audits had not identified issues related to medicines which were discovered during the inspection. People were supported by staff to remain safe.

Previously there were concerns around staff member’s availability for people, however during this assessment we found there were enough staff available to people and people’s needs were attended to in a timely manner. Risk assessments were in place to minimise any potential risk to people’s wellbeing. Staff were recruited in a safe way.

Whilst previously we had found that training was not always given or updated, at this inspection we saw staff received training and had been provided with an induction. Staff members felt able to approach the registered manager with any concerns. Staff knew people’s needs. People were assisted to receive food and drinks by staff where required. People were supported to maintain their health.

Staff were now aware of the requirements of the mental capacity act and had received training. People were supported to have choice and control over their lives and staff understood that they should support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff ensured that people’s privacy and dignity was maintained.

People's care plans reflected their needs and preferences and staff understood the care that people required. Although at the previous inspection people felt that they were under-stimulated by lack of activities, this had been addressed with new activities introduced. The complaints procedure had been improved and complaints were dealt with appropriately in line with the procedure in place.

Feedback was taken from people and used to inform the service. People knew the registered manager and felt they were approachable.

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. (Report Published 23 January 2019). The service had been rated ‘requires improvement’ in each of the key questions.

There was a previous breach of regulation 17 (2) (b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to the lack of oversight of the service. This had now been met.

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.