Aaron Court Care Home

Updated 29 January 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 19 January 2022 and was announced.

Updated 29 January 2022

About the service

Aaron Court is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 52 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 73 people. The building accommodates people over four wings in one adapted building.

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

At our last inspection in June 2018, we found the home was in breach of regulations.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

People were not always able to tell us specifically about their experiences of living at Aaron Court. Our observations of the support provided found that people were relaxed, comfortable with the staff team and used the staff team as a point of reference to assist them in their daily lives. People experienced genuine and dignified support at all times with their independence encouraged.

Relatives were happy with the support their relations received telling us that “staff are kind”, [name] is safe living here”, “I can walk away knowing [name] is being looked after and is receiving a well led service”.

People received care in a safe environment with appropriate equipment. Risks associated with their care was fully taken into account. People received medication safely and, in a person-centred manner. There were sufficient staff available to meet people’s needs and attend to them. New staff were recruited robustly. Systems protected people from abuse.

The building was clean and hygienic with staff having access to suitable equipment to limit the spread of infection.

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.

Staff received training and supervision in order for them to perform their role. The environment was tailored to take people’s needs into account.

People’s nutrition and health were supported and promoted.

People were supported in a dignified and caring manner, enabling them to have their privacy respected. People were enabled to communicate in their preferred manner and were given time to express themselves.

Care plans were person- centred and included the needs of people in all aspects of their daily lives. Activities were in place and sought to reduce the risk of social isolation.

The service had responded to breaches at the last inspection and had employed a quality lead to oversee aspects of quality of care. Audits supplemented the drive for improvements. People were invited to comment on the quality of care provided. Links with the local community were established.

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 5 June 2018) and there were two 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. 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 Aaron Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.