9 August 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Aspinden Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 26 people. At the time of our inspection there were 25 people living at the service. People had their own rooms with shared bathroom facilities. The home supported people who had a history of long-term homelessness and alcohol dependency.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
There continued to be improvements at the home but we identified that medicines were still not being managed safely. This meant people were at risk of not receiving their medicines as prescribed. Risk assessments were not robust and were not updated when people’s needs changed. This meant people were at risk of receiving unsafe care.
Accidents and incidents were analysed but actions were not always completed following incidents. We identified that there was at times poor record keeping of client information and it was stored in different formats, which meant it was hard to locate and there was a lack of guidance for staff.
The providers governance and auditing systems did not always identify issues with the quality of the service. This meant appropriate action had not been taken to ensure people received good quality care.
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.
The provider had effective processes in place for managing and preventing infection. The provider had systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse.
Staff spoke positively about the improvements at the home, and they told us they felt supported by the registered manager.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The service was inspected but not rated at the last inspection (published 11 January 2022). At our last inspection we found breaches of the regulations in relation to safe administration of medicines, person centred care and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to tell us what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we did not look at key question relating to the breach of regulation 9 (person centred care). We will look at this when we next inspect.
Why we inspected
We received information of concern in relation to how the provider was assessing and managing risk. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Aspinden Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified breaches in relation to assessing risk, medicines and good governance.
Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.