• Care Home
  • Care home

Farnworth Care Home

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Church Street, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire, BL4 8AG (01204) 578555

Provided and run by:
Abbey Healthcare (Farnworth) Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 19 December 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. 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

The service was inspected by two inspectors, a medicines 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

Farnworth Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. 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 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. Inspection activity started on 4 November and finished on 25 November 2020, at which point we had received all the additional information we had requested from the provider. We visited the home on the 4 and 24 November 2020.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we already held about the home, which had been collected via our ongoing monitoring of care services. We spoke with local authority safeguarding and quality assurance teams. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 11 staff members including the regional manager, registered manager, deputy manager, unit managers, senior care and care staff, kitchen staff, domestic and maintenance workers. The regional manager is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We observed staff providing care to help us understand the experience of people using the service.

We reviewed a range of records. Care plans and daily records were in the process of being transferred on to an electronic systems, meaning some records weren’t organised into one plan. However, we reviewed seven peoples care records and multiple medication records. We looked at staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records, medicines records, rotas and incident reports. We spoke again with the regional manager, registered manager and deputy manager.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 19 December 2020

About the service

Farnworth Care Home is a care home registered to provide care to 120 people. At the time of the inspection 101 people were receiving care across three floors. The Firwood unit on the second floor provides support for people living with dementia. The Burnden unit on the first floor provides support for people with nursing needs and the Belmont unit on the ground floor provides support for people who need assistance with their care.

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

People were kept safe from the risk of abuse and safeguarding concerns were reported appropriately. Care plans were personalised, identified risks for people and how these should be managed. Medicines were managed safely and we were assured there were effective infection control practices in place. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and regular analysis of staffing ratios was carried out.

Staff felt well supported and received ongoing training. The management team received praise from staff for the support they provided. One staff member said, “They’re really supportive, they really want to help you progress. They are very hands on.” Auditing systems were robust and transparent. The management team worked holistically with professionals from other agencies and bodies, ensuring people received the care and treatment they required.

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 27 November 2019) and there was one breach of regulations. 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

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels, management of dietary needs, medication administration, staff support systems, reporting of incidents, pressure care support and infection control practices. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

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 changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this 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 the service can respond to coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Farnworth Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.