Elvy Court Care Home

Updated 5 August 2021

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide 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 inspection was carried out by one 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

Elvy Court 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 that 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

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was asked to complete a provider information with a return date of after this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We communicated with two people who used the service. We spoke with 13 staff including the regional manager, area manager, deputy manager/clinical lead, a nurse, an agency nurse, a senior carer, four care staff, an agency care staff, an activity coordinator, and a kitchen assistant. We also attended the daily departmental meeting and spoke to the visiting GP.

An expert by experience telephoned three people who lived at the service and nine relatives to gain feedback on the quality of the service provided.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and care notes. We looked at three staff recruitment files. We also saw a variety of records relating to the management of the service, such as health and safety, audits and staff meetings.

After the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We received positive feedback from the local authority safeguarding team, local authority commissioner, specialist dietician, community mental health nurse and a tissue viability nurse.

Updated 5 August 2021

About the service

Elvy Court Care Home is registered to provide people with nursing and residential care. It can accommodate older people, younger adults and people who live with dementia. It can also support people with physical and/or sensory adaptive needs.

At the time of this inspection there were 47 people living in the service. The service can accommodate up to 55 people. The service was provided over two floors with lift access. Each floor had its own lounge and dining room and all bedrooms had an en-suite toilet. There was also a café on the ground floor and a well-tended garden surrounded the home.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives said were satisfied with the level and quality of care they received at Elvy Court Care Home. Although they said there were some niggles from time to time, they would recommend the service to others. One relative told us about their family member, “It is the best place for her. She is cared for in a non- judgemental way. She can do what she likes, accepted as she is, celebrated rather than judged.”

People continued to be protected from the potential risk of abuse. Individual risks were identified and steps taken to reduce them. Staff had the guidance they needed to minimise harm to people whilst supporting independence.

Staffing levels continued to be monitored so there were enough staff to meet people's needs. Recruitment practices were safe to ensure people were protected from the risk of unsuitable staff.

People continued to receive their medicines as prescribed by their GP. Medicines had been stored, administered, audited and reviewed regularly. One health care professional told us, “I have engaged with the home managers/seniors, who have been very responsive, collaborative and show their care and compassion to ensure their residents receive a high standard of care.”

We were assured that the service could respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Everyone said the service was well-led and that the registered and deputy managers were approachable. There were systems to monitor the quality of the service being provided to people and gain their feedback.

The culture of the service was open and honest. Lessons had been learned when things had not gone the way that they should have gone. When people and relatives had raised issues during the inspection, they were immediately investigated, resolved to people’s satisfaction and apologies made when needed.

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 7 October 2020).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the assessment of risks and the overall management of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe 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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. The overall rating for the service remains 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 that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Elvy Court Care Home 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.