Archived: Ashcroft Nursing Home - Chesterfield

Updated 2 March 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Ashcroft Nursing Home - Chesterfield is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 who had applied to be registered with the Care Quality Commission. Registered managers and providers 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 unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service, a visiting professional and 13 members of staff including the regional manager, home manager, deputy manager, clinical lead, activities coordinator, nurse, domestic, catering staff and care staff. Our Expert by experience carried out telephone calls after our inspection to seven relatives to obtain their experience of the care provided.

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

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training, maintenance and quality assurance information and further policies and procedures.

Updated 2 March 2022

About the service

Ashcroft Nursing Home - Chesterfield is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 42 people. The service provides support to older people including people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.

The care home accommodates people in one adapted building across two floors. There are communal living and dining areas on each floor.

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

The provider had taken action to improve the systems and processes in place to monitor and assess the safety and quality of the service. These changes required embedding to ensure they were effective and consistently applied.

Staffing rotas evidenced there were enough staff deployed to provide people with the care and support they required. Regular agency staff were used to ensure continuity of care for people whilst on-going recruitment was in place.

Medicine was administered by trained nurses. Staff received regular checks on and direct observation of their practice to ensure medicines were administered safely.

Staff training was relevant and up to date. The staff training matrix evidenced that improvements in compliance had been made following our previous inspection.

There was a positive person-centred approach to the delivery of people's care. This was demonstrated by the staff’s understanding of the people they were supporting.

Since our previous inspection, people’s care plans and risk assessments had been reviewed and regularly updated.

People using the service had regular opportunities to suggest improvements to the service through residents’ meetings and in person.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 10 March 2021) The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 11 January 2021. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the care and treatment of people using the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern

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 COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively. This included checking the provider was meeting COVID-19 vaccination requirements.

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 Inadequate to Requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ashcroft Nursing Home - Chesterfield on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.