The Knoll

Updated 12 January 2021

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 care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe, and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 21 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 12 January 2021

About the service

The Knoll is a 'care home' and provides accommodation and personal care for up to 34 older people living with dementia. At the time of our visit 21 people were using the service.

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

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.

People's care was based on an assessment of their needs and their choices. People were supported to regularly access health care services to maintain their wellbeing.

People's dietary needs were met. People told us they enjoyed the food and drink at the home. We observed staff supporting and encouraging people with their meals and where needed give them assistance to eat and drink.

People's care plans were person centred and contained details about how they should be supported. We witnessed staff following this guidance. Staff we spoke with understood people's support needs and how to communicate effectively with them.

Staff reported feeling happy in their roles and told us staff morale was improving. They told us communication was getting better and that they had handovers at the start of each shift to discuss key information.

Systems of governance were robust. We saw evidence of improvements made and learning from any actions identified. Systems used to monitor the quality of care delivered by staff were effective.

People, relatives and staff were engaged in the running of the home. Staff told us they felt supported and said managers were always available.

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 Good (published 16 January 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of people’s care needs (person centred care). As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Questions of Effective and Well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained 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 The Knoll 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.