Ashgreen House Residential and Nursing Home

Updated 23 April 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

This inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. 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

Ashgreen House Residential and Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Ashgreen House Residential and Nursing 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with 11 people using the service and one relative to gather their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 12 members of staff including the area manager, two registered managers, two deputy managers, two nurses, four care workers and an activities coordinator.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care, risk management and medicine records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 23 April 2022

Ashgreen House Residential and Nursing Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to older adults. The home accommodates up to 52 people across four floors and in five units, each of which has separately adapted facilities. One of the units specialises in providing care and support to people living with dementia. At the time of this inspection, 41 people were using the service.

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

People and their relatives were complimentary about the service and told us the service had improved and was meeting their individual needs. People were protected from the risk of avoidable harm. People were supported by enough members of staff on each unit to ensure their needs were safely met. Accident and incidents were reported, recorded and analysed with lessons learnt shared with staff to prevent reoccurrences.

Medicines were managed safely, and people were receiving their medicines as prescribed by doctors. The home was clean, and staff followed appropriate infection prevention and control practices to minimise the spread of infections. People told us they felt safe living at the home and had no concerns regarding abuse or neglect. The service followed appropriate recruitment practices and ensured staff were properly checked before they began working at the home.

The service was well-led by the new management team who had good oversight of the service. Care and support was planned and delivered to meet people’s diverse needs and records were accurately maintained. An effective system was used to monitor the quality and safety of the service and to drive improvements.

People’s, their relatives’ and staff’s views were sought to improve on the quality of the service provided. The service worked in partnership with key organisations and health and social care professionals to deliver a joined-up service. Staff knew of their individual roles and responsibilities, they told us they felt supported in their role and were happy working at the service.

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 last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 19 March 2021) and there were breaches of regulation.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. 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. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 26 and 27 January 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve staffing and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.

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. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ashgreen House Residential and Nursing 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.