Princes Road Residential Care Home

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Based on the findings of this assessment we found the service remains requires improvement. This meant the service was still not consistently well-managed and led. At our last inspection we were concerned about how effective the providers established quality and safety monitoring systems were because they had failed to pick up all the issues we identified at that time. This represented a breach of regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. During this assessment we found not enough improvements had been made by the provider to their quality monitoring systems. This meant they were still in breach of regulation 17 regarding good governance. The provider had continued to fail to identify and/or address a number of new issues we found d at the assessment. This included records they were legally required to keep not always being appropriately maintained or made available on request; maintenance issues relating to fire safety equipment not always being promptly repaired; radiators not always being risk assessed and/or covered or removed; and essential information people need not always being accessible or available in easy to read and understand versions. You can find more details of our concerns in the evidence category findings below. This service is required to have a registered manager, which they had not had in place for well over a year. However, the service manager who has management oversight for the care home has now submitted an application to be registered with us. People's concerns and complaints were well-managed. The provider worked collaboratively with most external health and social care agencies and professionals to plan and deliver people’s home care packages.

This service scored 61 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Staff told us there was a positive culture in the home and they felt confident their managers with any issues.

The provider promoted an open and inclusive culture which sought the views of people living in the care home, their relatives, and staff who worked there. They used a range of methods to gather people’s views and find out what they thought about the quality of the care and support they received from this provider. For example, people living in the care home and their relatives were routinely invited to attend group meetings with staff and participate in the providers own customer satisfaction surveys.

Staff told us that the team leader and the managers were a visible presence in the home and led by example.

The service manager who was applying to become the registered manager had the relevant skills, knowledge, and experience to effectively lead the service, which they did so with integrity, openness and honesty. They were knowledgeable about their regulatory responsibilities.

Staff told us the managers listened to their views. They said they were encouraged to contribute their ideas about what the service did well and what they could do better during meetings.

The provider had a complaints policy which detailed how people could raise concerns if they were dissatisfied with the service they received and the process for dealing with their concerns. However, this information and guidance about how people could raise a formal complaint and/or concern was not available or accessible to people living at the care home or any visitors. The providers complaints policy should also be available in appropriate formats to meet the needs of the people living in the care home including, easy to read pictorial versions so people living with a learning disability can easily access and understand this information. The provider responded immediately during and after the assessment. The team leader confirmed an easy read version of the providers complaints policy was now available and conspicuously displayed on an information board in the communal entrance hall, which was accessible to everyone living or visiting the care home. People said they felt confident any complaint or concern they raised with the provider would be taken seriously, looked into and addressed. A relative told us, “We have a good relationship with Certitude management and feel if we had any concerns these would be listened to and actioned. We feel our input is valued.” Complaints were logged, responded to appropriately and actions were identified to improve the service.

We did not look at Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

The service manager and staff confirmed the service had not had a registered manager in post since the previous one left over a year ago in January 2023. However, this outstanding issue was now being addressed with the service manager submitting an application to be registered with us. The service manager acknowledged they needed to continue improving how they operated their oversight and scrutiny systems.

The providers established quality and safety monitoring systems were still ineffective because they continually failed to pick up and/or take appropriate action to address a number of new issues we identified at this assessment. For example, we were concerned some equipment in the care home, including these related to fire safety, were not always appropriately maintained or routine checks conducted; risk assessments and staff supervision were not kept up to date. The negative comments highlighted above notwithstanding, we positively noted the provider had developed an improvement plan and followed the actions it set out to take to address most of the issues we identified at their last inspection. This included improving how they reported safeguarding incidents to the relevant external agencies. Overall, the quality and safety of the service people living at the care home received was routinely monitored by managers and staff at both a provider and service level which included conducting regular audits and checks, as well as routinely gathering feedback about the service from people using it, their relatives and staff working there.

We did not look at Partnerships and communities during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.

We did not look at Learning, improvement and innovation during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Well-led.