12 April 2023
During a routine inspection
Rodwell House is a care home providing accommodation, personal and nursing care for up to 75 people. The service supports people with a range of nursing needs including people living with dementia. The service is arranged across 3 floors with lift access. People have access to shared lounges and dining rooms and accessible gardens and grounds. At the time of our inspection there were 44 people using the service.
Rodwell House also provides personal care for people living in their own homes, within the same accommodation. These people have a tenancy agreement and a separate agreement for their care provision. There were 34 people receiving personal care in their ‘own homes’. People receiving personal care can choose to have their care provided by another care provider. However, everyone living in Rodwell House had their care provided by staff employed by the service and we included these people within the inspection. We are working closely with the provider to reduce the number of people with tenancies to enable the whole service to be available for people who require accommodation with nursing or personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Rodwell House had made a lot of improvements since our last inspection. Activities had increased, but there were still not enough activity coordinators to provide the range of activities and social engagement to meet everyone’s individual needs. People, relatives, and professionals all highlighted this as an area that still needed to be improved.
Improvements had also been made to the menu and food choices and menus were now on display. Changes were based on feedback from people and relatives. Despite the improvements, some people told us their meals were not hot when they received them. People’s care plans were person centred and detailed their preferences. However, some of these preferences were not always adhered to.
People told us they felt safe living in Rodwell House, and staff checked up on them regularly. Relatives told us staff put things in place to help keep their loved one safe, for example, mats beside the bed. There were enough staff deployed in the service and the staff knew the needs of the people they were supporting. Medicines were managed safely; accidents and incidents were monitored, and lessons were learned and shared if something went wrong.
People were assessed before they moved in to Rodwell House to ensure the staff had the necessary skills to meet their needs. Assessments were used to formulate the care plan. Care plans and risk assessments were reviewed regularly. People and their relatives told us the service was kept very clean and tidy.
Since our last inspection the service had made improvements to make the environment more suitable for people living with dementia. Staff had received training and a new practice development team worked alongside care workers to champion best practice. People were supported to see a doctor or other health professional when needed.
People and relatives told us staff were kind and caring and treated people with dignity and respect. One relative said, “The staff are very nice and friendly, and they always take the time to say hello and chat.” People received care which promoted independence and relatives told us they were updated regularly. Another relative told us, “It is clean, it is welcoming, and staff always make themselves available, I am totally involved in all aspects of the care.”
Effective quality assurance processes were in place to monitor the service and regular audits were undertaken. A new registered manager had been appointed since our last inspection and staff told us they found them approachable and supportive with an open-door policy. People and relatives spoke highly of the new registered manager.
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 and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 August 2022) and there were 2 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.
At our last inspection we recommended the provider seek guidance in relation to the environment and activities for people living with dementia, and the provision of compassionate care. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on the recommendations and improvements had been made. The environment had been improved and care was provided in a compassionate way. Improvements had been made to activities and social engagement for people, but there was still room for more improvement in this area.
The service remains requires improvement overall based on the findings at this inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
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.
Follow up
We will ask the provider to continue to send us an updated action plan regularly to understand what they will do and by when, 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.