Russell Court

Updated 28 April 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.

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 team comprised of three inspectors on site on the 26 March 2021. Two inspectors were on site with one inspector off site making telephone calls to staff and relatives on the 30 March 2021.

Service and service type

Russell Court 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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager 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

We gave a short period notice of the inspection.

What we did before 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.

Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the home manager, deputy manager, clinical lead, senior care staff, care staff, non-care and catering staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 10 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 reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 28 April 2021

About the service

Russell Court is a care home providing personal and nursing care for up to 42 people, some living with dementia, in one adapted building. The service accommodates people across two floors. At the time of the inspection on the 26 March 2021, 19 people were living there and this had reduced to 16 people by the 30 March 2021. The service plans to specialise in becoming a short-term, step down service for people discharged from hospital who are not quite well enough to return home.

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

At the last inspection we had identified breaches in regulations 12, safe care and treatment and 17, good governance. We found at this inspection improvements had been made, although there were some further improvements required.

Care plans and risk assessments had been, or were in the process of being, reviewed. There was some further improvement to be made to ensure people’s assessed needs and identified risks were consistently and accurately recorded. People felt safe. Risks associate with COVID-19 were assessed and mitigated. Medicines were managed safely. Staff understood safeguarding and safeguarding concerns were referred to the local authority. Incidents and accidents were monitored for future learning. There were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs and recruitment processes were in place to safely recruit staff.

Staff felt supported by the new management team and the running of the home had improved since its last inspection. Staff had started to receive supervision to help them in their roles and training had been completed or in the process of being arranged for them. We found there was good communication with healthcare agencies.

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 were offered a choice of meals and drinks. We saw any changes to people’s dietary requirements had been promptly referred to the GP or dietician. There were no concerns raised about the home environment.

We saw kind and caring staff interactions with people. This was supported with the compliments we saw the service had received. People told us staff respected their wishes and choices and had ensured their dignity independence was promoted.

Complaints processes had been improved to make sure feedback was used to learn from and to help improve the quality of the service. The service had processes in place to support people, who were deemed to be at the end of their life, with a dignified and respectful death.

Everyone spoken with said the new manager had improved the service's communication and systems were in place to gather their feedback to help improve the quality of the service and to help inform person-centred care. The provider understood their regulatory responsibilities.

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 06 January 2021 and update published ?? April 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. 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 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

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.