22 September 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Eachstep Blackburn is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 52 people at the time of the inspection. The service specialises in providing care to people living with dementia and can accommodate up to 64 people. The home is divided into three households, each of which is decorated to a high standard and provides themed areas to promote social interaction. Accommodation is provided in single en-suite bedrooms. The home also provides a cinema, vintage tearoom and secure garden area.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People continued to receive exceptional quality care which was personalised to meet their individual needs and preferences. Staff spoke about people with respect and demonstrated a commitment to enabling them to live their lives as independently as possible.
People were supported by staff who were extremely kind and caring. Staff spoke about the home as being a family where people were cared for in a loving and happy environment. Our discussions with relatives supported this view. The home was described as a “Rolls Royce service” and staff as “caring, kind and respectful.”
People told us they felt safe in Eachstep Blackburn. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and were confident about the action they needed to take to keep people safe. They told us policies and procedures were available on each household for them to refer to if necessary.
Staff had been safely recruited. Four out of the five people spoken with told us staff always responded promptly to their needs. One person told us they sometimes had to wait for staff; this was addressed immediately by the manager of the home.
The provider’s infection control policies had been updated to reflect the additional risks posed by the Covid 19 pandemic. Staff understood and followed the procedures. The home ensured extra vigilance when people were required to shield due to their health needs or were required to isolate following admission to the home or return from hospital.
Staff and relatives spoke positively about the way the home was led. They told us the new manager was approachable and willing to listen to any suggestions they had. People described the home as caring and like a family.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was outstanding (published 26 September 2018).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns about the number of safeguarding alerts received by the local authority regarding people living in the home as well as standards of record keeping. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
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. The overall rating for the service has remained outstanding. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC 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.