Darlington Manor

Updated 19 November 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 CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This focussed inspection included looking at the IPC practices the provider had in place.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Darlington Manor is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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

This inspection was announced. Having consideration of the coronavirus pandemic, we gave the registered manager a short period of notice of our arrival. This was to ensure safe systems were in place to protect everyone.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, senior support workers, support workers and housekeeping staff. We also spoke with one visiting health professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two 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 reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with two relatives by telephone.

Updated 19 November 2020

About the service

Darlington Manor Care Home provides residential care for up to 60 older people. At the time of inspection 32 people were living at the home, some of whom were living with dementia. Accommodation was spread over two floors, each with their own adapted facilities.

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

At the last inspection we recommended the provider undertake a review of the risks to people’s health to ensure care records reflected those risks and, ensured medicines management followed national guidance.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made. The registered manager and provider had implemented all of the recommended actions from their last inspection and had improved how they monitored the quality of the service people received.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and staff were supporting them well. One person told us, “Staff are marvellous!”

People's care and support needs were assessed. Records reflected people’s current needs. Medicines were managed safely. Close links with other professionals had been implemented to ensure people's physical and mental health needs were continually met with changes responded to quickly.

The home had a dedicated infection prevention and control champion who ensured national guidance was being followed. The registered manager monitored all areas of the home. This ensured high standards of infection prevention and control were delivered and that suitable supplies of personal protective equipment was available. Additional activities had been planned within the home to positively support people. People were supported to keep in touch with their relatives by telephone and video calls. The provider and staff communicated regularly with family members about the latest guidance and to update on their relative’s health.

Staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse. People's privacy and dignity was seen to be maintained. The staff team had the necessary skills to support people appropriately. Enough staff were on duty to respond to people's needs in a timely manner. No agency staff were working in the home. The registered manager used information from accidents and incidents to learn lessons. Staff were recruited safely.

The service was well led. The management team were praised by people, their relatives and staff, for their supportive approach. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of care provided and to continuously improve the service. The management team and staff worked extremely closely with health professionals to achieve positive outcomes for people’s health and well-being.

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 requires improvement (published 7 December 2019). Two recommendations were made.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and had made the necessary improvements to meet the recommendations. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion 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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Darlington Manor 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.