The Lawns Residential Care Home

Updated 4 March 2022

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 included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements. 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 was carried out by one inspector. An Expert by Experience then contacted relatives of people who use the service via telephone on 4 February 2022. 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

The Lawns Residential 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 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

The infection prevention and control inspection on 20 January 2022 was unannounced. The focused inspection on 27 January 2022 was also unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and sought feedback from the local authority. 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 five people who used the service and eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the regional manager, registered manager, deputy manager, two senior care workers two care workers. We also spoke with the activities coordinator, chef and the administrator/receptionist.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed, including policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found and reviewed further evidence the provider submitted.

Updated 4 March 2022

About the service

The Lawns Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 41 people aged 65 and over. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

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

Overall people’s individual risks were managed effectively, and they received safe care. Feedback from people and their relatives confirmed this.

Whilst the service was using a high number of agency staff they were all suitably trained and experienced enough to meet people’s care and support needs. The provider had a recruitment drive underway to reduce the requirement for the deployment of regular agency staff. All staff were recruited safely.

The provider accepted our concerns over the number of managerial changes at the service leading up to the inspection but were confident in the current structure now in place. They had communicated these changes to people and relatives including the CQC.

Quality control systems were effective in identifying issues within the service. Where an issue was identified during audits, the provider developed effective action plans to improve care and drive continuous learning.

The provider learnt lessons when things went wrong, and they encouraged continuous improvements.

Medicines were managed safely. Medicines administration record (MAR) charts were accurately completed, medicines were safely administered and when people received their medicines ‘as and when required’ the correct protocols were in place.

People and their relatives were involved in developing and reviewing their care plans and risk assessments. Care records were person-centred and contained information about people’s preferences, specific routines, their life history and interests.

Staff were caring and kind to people. Relatives spoke highly of the good work the staff team had done to ensure their family members remained well cared for and safe. 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.

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 25 June 2019)

Why we inspected

We undertook a targeted infection prevention and control inspection in line with our current regulatory approach.

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 the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

We inspected and found a concern with the management of people’s skin care, so we widened the scope of the inspection to become a focused inspection. We found no evidence during this inspection people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Lawns residential Care 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.