Charles Court Care Home

Updated 1 March 2023

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 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 team consisted of 3 inspectors and a specialist advisor in nursing, at Charles Court Care Home. In addition, a fourth inspector spoke with relatives on the telephone.

Service and service type

Charles Court Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Charles Court Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced on the first day. We announced our intention to return to the home for the second day of the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 December 2022 and ended on 6 January 2023. We visited the location’s service on 13 December 2002 and 14 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spent time seeing how people were cared for and spoke with 4 people living at the home and 6 relatives, to find out their views about the care provided. We 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 16 staff who worked at the home, including the registered manager and deputy manager. We spoke with 10 care and nursing staff and 4 ancillary staff. The ancillary staff included maintenance, administration, housekeeping and catering staff. We also spoke 2 provider representatives, including an operations manager and a quality lead.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 13 people’s care records, multiple medication records and records showing what action had been taken to support people's clinical needs. We looked at records relating to the safety, quality and management of the service. These included checks undertaken on the premises, staff training and competency, the administration of people’s medicines and staff recruitment records. We also reviewed a range of policies and records showing how information was communicated to staff across different shifts and after incidents.

Updated 1 March 2023

About the service

Charles Court Care Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 75 people. The service provides support to younger and older people who may live with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 60 people using the service. Charles Court Care Home accommodates people in one adapted building.

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

Improvements had been made to the way people’s risks were managed and the information provided to staff to guide them how to care for people. However, some further improvements were required in the way people’s medicines were managed and staff practice, to ensure people’s safety needs were consistently met.

Some of the checks on the quality and safety of the care provided had improved. Further development of the checks undertaken on the care provided to people was needed, to ensure opportunities for learning were consistently identified and improvements promptly driven through in people’s care.

People were protected from abuse. Staff were safely recruited and there were enough staff to meet people’s safety needs. Where people were supported by temporary staff, they worked alongside more experienced staffs where possible.

People told us staff who regularly supported them knew how to assist them. Staff had received relevant training to develop the knowledge they needed to care for people and.

People, relatives and staff were involved in assessments and people were promptly and appropriately supported to see other health and social care professionals so they would enjoy the best health possible. People were supported to have enough to drink and eat so they would remain well.

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, relatives and staff said the registered manager and senior staff were approachable and listened to their suggestions. Staff told us they felt listened to and supported to provide good care.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the safety of people’s care and how people were supported to obtain care from other health and social care professionals. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective 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 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 remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. The provider began to address these concerns during the inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Charles Court Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 28 March 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect. We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.