Dearnlea Park Residential Care Home

Dearnlea Park Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 67 people over two floors of a purpose-built building. The service provides support to older adults and younger people, some of whom are living with dementia or experiencing mental health issues. At the time of our inspection there were 41 people living at the service.

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

Medicines were not managed safely. We were not assured of staff competency in this area. There was not always guidance for staff on how to administer medicines safely. People’s care records did not accurately reflect their needs. Risks to people had not been fully assessed and there was limited guidance for staff on how best to manage these risks. There were no effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the services provided. The provider had failed to keep oversight of the service.

Not all staff were provided with an induction and relevant training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. There were systems in place to recognise and respond to any allegations of abuse. Safe recruitment procedures made sure staff were of suitable character and background. There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s care and support needs in a timely way.

We saw staff were kind and caring in their interactions with people. They clearly knew people well. 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.

People told us they enjoyed the food served at Dearnlea Park Residential Care Home. People were encouraged to maintain good health and have access to health and social care services. The registered manager had been in post since January 2023 and staff told us they were supportive.

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 requires improvement (published 29 November 2021) and there were breaches of regulations. 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 the provider remained in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

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.

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 9 November 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve medicines management, assessing risks, health and safety, and governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last comprehensive inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained as requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dearnlea Park Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified continued breaches in relation to medicines management, assessing risks, and governance.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good.

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 with the local authority to monitor progress.

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

Dearnlea Park is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 47 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 65 people.

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

Governance arrangements were not effective or reliable. Further improvement was needed in the quality assurance processes to identify shortfalls and to drive improvement.

Support plans and risk assessments relating to people's health needs and the environment had been completed but did not contain sufficient information to help staff protect the health and welfare of people who used the service.

Aspects of medicines management were not operated effectively. Systems to check staff competency and training required improvement. Appropriate health and safety checks to the buildings and premises had not been carried out, placing people at risk of harm.

Systems to safeguard people from abuse were implemented effectively and monitored. Safe recruitment procedures were followed. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people's needs and provide a personalised service.

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 good (published 15/11/2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to quality assurance systems, the management of the service and staffing. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We have found evidence the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well-led questions in this report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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 the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to medicines, assessing risk, health and safety and governance.

We will request an action plan for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Dearnlea Park 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 care home can accommodate up to 65 older people and older people living with dementia in one purpose-built building. At the time of this inspection, 52 people were living in the home. Accommodation is provided over two floors.

There had been a change of registration in August 2017 when, a new provider had been registered. This was the first inspection of the new provider.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Staff were being recruited safely and there were enough staff to take care of people and to keep the home clean. Staff were receiving appropriate training and they told us the training was good and relevant to their role. Staff were supported by the registered manager and were receiving formal supervision where they could discuss their ongoing development needs.

People who used the service and their relatives told us staff were helpful, attentive and caring. We saw people were treated with respect and compassion.

Care plans were up to date and detailed what care and support people wanted and needed. Risk assessments were in place and showed what action had been taken to mitigate any risks which had been identified. People felt safe at the home and appropriate referrals were made to the safeguarding team when necessary.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s healthcare needs were being met and medicines were being stored and managed safely.

Staff knew about people’s dietary needs and preferences. People told us there was a good choice of meals and said the food was very good. There were plenty of drinks and snacks available for people in between meals.

Activities were on offer to keep people occupied both on a group and individual basis. Visitors were made to feel welcome and could have a meal at the home if they wished.

The home was spacious, well decorated, clean and tidy. All the bedrooms were single occupancy with en-suite toilets and showers.

The complaints procedure was displayed. Records showed complaints received had been dealt with appropriately.

Most people spoke highly of the manager who said they were approachable and supportive. The provider had effective systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and where issues were identified they acted to make improvements.

We found all the fundamental standards were being met. Further information is in the detailed findings below.