Old Vicarage Nursing Home

Updated 25 February 2022

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.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 14th February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 25 February 2022

About the service:

Old Vicarage Nursing Home is a residential service providing support with personal care or nursing needs for older people. The service can accommodate up to 40 people although at the time of the inspection there were 34 people living there including people living with dementia. The home is an adapted three storey property.

Peoples experience of using the service:

People were cared for by staff in a way that kept them safe and protected them from avoidable harm. Enough staff were available to respond to people’s needs in a timely manner. People received their medicines when they needed them, and systems were in place to ensure medicines were stored and administered safely and that adequate supplies were available. Accidents and Incidents were investigated, and measures were taken to prevent re-occurrences. The premises were clean, and staff knew and followed infection control principles.

Peoples needs were assessed and planned and delivered in accordance with legislation and best practise. Staff were well trained and knowledgeable about the needs of the people they supported. Balanced and nutritious meals were served, and people were complimentary about the quality of the food. People were supported to have 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 practise.

People were cared for by staff who were kind and caring, the atmosphere in the home was friendly and relaxed. We observed staff interacting with people as equals. People were involved in making decisions about their care and were supported to maintain their independence.

There were systems to ensure care was responsive. People received care in accordance with their needs and preferences. People were supported to maintain contact with their friends and families. There were opportunities for social stimulation. People felt their concerns and complaints would be listened to and responded to. People had plans relating to end of life care decisions where required.

People gave us positive feedback about the quality of care they received. The feedback on the leadership of the service and the registered manager from people and staff was positive. There were effective governance systems in place to monitor the quality of service and the health, safety of welfare of people.

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 March 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

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 reinspection programme.