Parklands Court Care Home

Updated 10 October 2023

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 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

The inspection was conducted by 3 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

Parklands Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Parklands Court is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. However, a new manager had recently started working at the service and they planned to submit an application to register.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 7 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 9 staff, including care staff, senior care staff and nurses. We also spoke with the deputy manager, the manager, the quality and compliance manager and the divisional director.

We reviewed a range of records, these included 16 people's care records, medicines administration records and governance and quality assurance records. We also looked at 5 staff recruitment files. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 10 October 2023

About the service

Parklands Court Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 163 people. The service provides support to older people, some of whom are living with dementia, people with a physical disability and younger adults. At the time of our inspection there were 55 people using the service.

Parklands Court Care Home consists of 3 purpose-built single storey buildings called Collins, Samuel and Marlborough. Each unit has access to a garden. There were several other self-contained units on the same site, but these were not in use at the time of the inspection.

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

Systems used for the management of medicines were not always safe. Some people experienced delays in their care and support due to staffing not being available when they needed them. There were systems in place to try and promote learning from incidents and events, however these were not always effective.

Governance processes and quality audits had failed to drive significant improvement and the home had been rated requires improvement at the last 4 inspections. People, relatives, and staff felt communication from the provider was poor and this had negatively affected their view of the home.

Staff knew how to escalate concerns for people’s safety and risks were assessed and managed to reduce the risk of harm. Improvements had been made to infection control, the home was visibly clean, and staff followed guidance to reduce the risk of cross infection.

Staff sought consent before providing care. 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.

There was a new management team in place who were open about the improvements required and were developing a plan to raise the standard of care people received.

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 6 January 2023). 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 although some improvements had been made the provider remained in breach of regulations. The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last 6 consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing levels and poor-quality care. 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 remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report. 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 Parklands Court Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the management of the service at this inspection.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

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 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.