1 March 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Apple Trees Care and Reablement Centre is a care home registered for 64 older people including people living with dementia. The home is split into four households with 16 bedrooms in each. At the time of our inspection one unit was being used as a designated setting for transitional care for people who had been discharged from hospital recovering from COVID- 19.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The staffing levels at night did not always meet the needs of people at the service. Since the introduction of the designated setting the way staff had been allocated had affected staff’s ability to provide timely care.
People’s medicines were overall managed safely, but we were told of minor medicines errors not being reported.
People had information in the care plans about how to manage the risks to their safety, however some risks to people’s safety were not always managed effectively
There were quality monitoring processes in place, however the analysis of incident such as falls of care did not always show theme and trends.
Staff were aware of how to protect people from the risks of abuse. There was infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in place so people were protected from the risks of infection. 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 and their relatives told us the staff team treated them with care and respect, and their views on their care were listened to. Staff showed a good awareness of supporting people’s privacy and encouraging their independence.
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 Apple Trees Reablement Centre was Good (published 8 August 2019).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of staffing since the introduction of the designated unit at the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, caring and well-led only.
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.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe and Well led section of this report
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Apple Trees Reablement Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.