Thorpe Wood Care Home

Updated 24 February 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector and one inspection manager carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

Thorpe Wood 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 registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

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 prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager, quality and governance manager, senior care workers and care workers. (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 two people’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed. We also observed care being delivered.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 24 February 2021

About the service

Thorpe Wood Care Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to 45 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.

Thorpe Wood Care Home can accommodate up to 50 people across four separate households, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One of the households specialises in providing nursing care to people who require this level of support. Relatives told us that the staff took actions to keep their family members safe.

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

The registered manager and staff had taken actions to ensure that people were protected from the risk of abuse. Relatives of people living at Thorpe Wood told us that the staff had taken action to keep their relative safe.

The procedures for the administration and recording of medication had not always been followed. It was not always possible to compare the records with the amount of medication in stock to ensure they had been administered as prescribed. These areas for improvements had also been identified by the providers Quality and Governance Manager and the appropriate action was being taken. Staff completed training and annual competency checks in the administration of medication.

Risk assessments were in place so that staff knew what action to take to reduce risks to people. Recruitment checks had been completed to ensure the right people were employed. Infection prevention and control measures were in place to reduce the risks of infections being spread through the home. Extra cleaning and precautions had been taken in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Staff were wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and having regular Covid-19 tests.

Staff and relatives of people living at Thorpe Wood all told us that the registered manager was approachable and supportive. There were governance systems in place to identify areas for improvement. Learning from incidents and accidents were shared with staff and action taken to prevent a reoccurrence when possible. Action had been taken to provide ways that people could still have regular contact with their families during the Covid-19 pandemic whist there were restrictions on relatives visiting the home.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (December 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to protecting people from abuse. 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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. However, the relevant agencies must be notified in a timely manner of any allegations of abuse so that they can decide what the next steps should be. Please see the safe sections of this full report.

Soon after the inspection the registered manager reported an allegation of abuse in a timely manner to the relevant agencies.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Thorpe Wood on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.