28 December 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
The Laurels is a residential care home registered to provide care and support to up to 20 people. The building had been adapted and care was provided over two floors with stairs and a stair lift as access. There were 13 people living at the home at the time of inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Improvements were needed to the governance within the service. Systems were either not established or effective in identifying the shortfalls found within this inspection. Statutory notifications had not been submitted to CQC as required to ensure we are informed of events that happen with services.
Safety checks were not always carried out as planned to ensure people were living in a safe environment. We raised this immediately with the provider who sought to rectify the shortfall by arranging external professionals and trades people to carry out the checks. Risk assessments were not always in place to ensure people were safe from avoidable harm. Reviews did not take place as planned. We have made a recommendation about risk management within the service.
Accidents and incidents were recorded, and the necessary actions taken. However, analysis was not robust to ensure lessons were learned to prevent reoccurrence of incidents. This meant people could be at increased risk. The Laurels did not actively seek formal feedback from people, their relatives, staff and professionals in order to drive continuous improvements.
We have made a recommendation about recruitment processes; they had not always been followed which meant staff did not always have the necessary checks to ensure they were safe to work with people who required care and support.
People received their medicines as prescribed. However, some improvements were needed to guidance for staff where medicines were taken occasionally and storage arrangements.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff knew them well and were confident the provider would take any concerns seriously. Infection control procedures were robust and in line with the latest government guidance for best practice.
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 3 March 2022).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the management of the home. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for, The Laurels on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to the management oversight in the home and failure to notify CQC of events as required by law at this inspection. We have made a recommendation about the providers recruitment process and risk management within the home.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.