The Red House Nursing Home

Updated 28 September 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 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 carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Red House Nursing Home 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. The Red House Nursing Home is a care home with nursing care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection, there was a registered manager in post.

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 used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with four people about their experience of the care and support provided. We spoke with five staff, two consultants who regularly support the service, the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care plans and multiple medicines 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 reviewed.

After the inspection we spoke with four relatives and a further four staff. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality surveys and quality assurance records.

Updated 28 September 2022

About the service

The Red House Nursing Home is a residential care home, set over two floors, in Canterbury, providing personal and nursing care to up to 31 people. At the time of the inspection there were 24 people living at the service, some of whom were living with dementia.

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

People and their relatives were happy with the levels of care and support provided. Comments included, “I am happy here and extremely well looked after, thank you”, “[My loved one] is safe and cared for very well” and, “[The registered manager] and staff have been utterly brilliant.”

People were supported to stay as safe and healthy as possible. Referrals to health care professionals were made when needed to make sure people continued to receive the right support.

People were supported by a consistent team of nurses and carers, many of whom worked at the service for a long time. Staff had been recruited safely. Staff met regularly with their line manager to discuss their performance and development and kept up to date with their training to make sure they were supporting people in line with best practice.

People were supported to have their medicines as prescribed. Nurses checked to make sure medicines were managed safely.

People lived in a service which was clean and free from unpleasant odours. Staff completed regular training about infection control and understood their responsibilities to maintain high standards of cleanliness and hygiene in the service. The registered manager ensured people, staff and visitors were informed of processes to keep up to date with current national guidance.

People health care needs were assessed before they moved into the service. Regular reviews of important records, such as risk assessments and care plans were completed and updated when required to make sure staff could meet people’s needs. People’s lifestyle choices, such as religion, sexuality, disability and race were discussed to ensure their needs were met.

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.

Regular checks were completed to monitor the safety and quality of service delivered. When a shortfall was identified, action was taken to address it.

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 17 December 2019). 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.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 10 and 15 October 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found around safe care and treatment, staff supervision and appraisal and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. We inspected to check these actions had been completed.

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 requires improvement to good. 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 The Red House Nursing Home 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.