Archived: Arboretum House

Updated 19 December 2020

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.

We received information of concern about infection control and prevention measures at this service. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

We have signposted the provider to resources to develop their approach.

This inspection took place on 2 December 2020 and was unannounced.

Updated 19 December 2020

About the service

Arboretum House is a residential care home and is registered to provide personal care for up to 38 people. At the time of the inspection, five people were receiving long-term care, and four people were receiving short-term care.

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

Not all people felt safe living at Arboretum House. Systems to reduce risks and protect people were not always effective. Opportunities to learn lessons when things went wrong were not always taken as incident forms were not always completed. Care plans did not always reflect the care people needed.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

Systems and processes to monitor and improve the quality and safety of services were not always effective as they had not identified the shortfalls we identified at this inspection.

Medicines were managed and administered safely. Staff took steps to help protect people from the risks associated with infections. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs. Staff recruitment processes were in place to ensure any staff recruited would be checked to help ensure their suitability to work with people.

Assessments of people’s health, care and well-being needs were in place. Staff had been trained, and were checked for their competence, in some but not all areas relevant to people's needs. People had choices of food and drink to help them achieve a balanced diet. Staff worked with other health and social care professionals to help people receive effective care. The premises included a variety of adaptions to help meet people’s needs.

Staff were caring, and people and their visitors felt welcome. Staff encouraged people to maintain their independence and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff had been trained to help them understand and meet people’s equality and diversity needs. People were involved in decisions about their care and treatment.

People received responsive and personalised care. People enjoyed different activities and staff had access to a range of resources to help people organise games and activities. People’s communication needs were assessed, and guidance was provided to staff on how to meet any additional needs when identified. A complaints policy was in place and followed when complaints were received. End of life care planning was available should people wish to discuss this with staff.

The registered manager provided support and guidance to staff, who considered the registered manager to be approachable. The service took account of the views of people, relatives and staff. The service worked well with other professionals and took opportunities for continuous learning and improvement.

At this inspection we found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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 6 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.