Frindsbury Hall Care Home

Updated 18 August 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 15 and 16 May 2018 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of three inspectors, a specialist nurse advisor and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using similar services or caring for family members.

Prior to the inspection, we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications about important events that had taken place at the service. We also asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The provider asked for an extension of time to complete the PIR and returned it within this agreed timescale.

During the inspection we spoke with 24 people and 10 relatives to gain their views about the quality of care provided. We spoke with a doctor and representative from a local church and obtained feedback from a commissioner from the local authority and a speech and language therapist.

We spoke to the registered manager, deputy manager, administrator, three registered nurses, four care staff, activities coordinator, cook and housekeeper. We viewed several records including eleven care plans; the management of medicines; the recruitment files of five staff recently employed at the service, staff training records; health and safety records; complaints and compliments; accidents and incidents and quality monitoring audits.

Updated 18 August 2018

The inspection was unannounced and took place on 16 and 17 May 2018.

Frindsbury Hall is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Frindsbury Hall is registered to provide accommodation and personal care support for up to 74 people but can accommodate only 64 people as a number of double rooms have been converted into single rooms to meet people’s needs and preferences. Accommodation is arranged over three floors. There are 24 single and two double rooms on the ground floor in Rochester and Upnor units; there are 22 single and 3 double rooms on the first floor in Hever and Cooling units; and there are 8 single rooms in Windsor unit on the second floor.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

The service was run by a registered manager and they were present for part of the first day and throughout the second day of our visit. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and comfortable and were treated with dignity and respect. They said they were offered suitable activities and enabled to be as independent as possible.

Staff were available in sufficient numbers and had received the training they required for their role. New staff were checked to make sure they were suitable to work with people.

A new medicines system had been introduced and was working effectively to ensure medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed.

Links were maintained with the local community through regular afternoon teas being held for older people who lived nearby.

Care plans and assessments of risk continued to detail how people wished to be supported and staff understood how to follow this guidance to meet people’s individual needs and keep them safe.

The service had maintained its accreditation with the Gold Standards framework, a coordinated approach to end of life care. A listen and talk member of staff had been employed with the specific role of talking to people and their family members. This added a valuable dimension to how the team helped people and their families towards and at the end of their life.

The provider had a complaints procedure in place and people who used the service and their relative were aware of how to make a complaint.

Staff felt well supported by the registered manager and people and their relatives said the service was well run and the registered manager was approachable. The service worked in partnership with other organisations and sought their advice to improve outcomes for people. The provider continued to have a quality assurance process in place and people and their relatives were regularly asked for their views about the service and how it could be improved.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.