Kippingtons Nursing Home

Updated 14 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 team consisted of two 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

Kippingtons 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. Kippingtons Nursing Home 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. Inspection activity started on 1 August 2022 and ended on 10 August 2022. We visited the location’s service on 1 August 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from Healthwatch, 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 the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 observed the care and support people received throughout the day. We spoke with 10 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided and 10 relatives of people who use the service. We spoke with one social care professional who regularly visited the service and two healthcare professionals. We spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager, regional manager, deputy manager, registered nurses, team leaders and care staff.

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.

We reviewed a range of records. This included eight 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 were reviewed.

Updated 14 September 2022

About the service

Kippingtons Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 55 people. The service provides support to older people living with age related frailties, physical disabilities and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 44 people using the service.

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

People received their medicines by nurses who were trained and competent to administer them safely. Staff mostly practiced good infection control to help protect people from the COVID-19 pandemic, however, a nurse was not seen to wash their hands between administering medicines to people. The registered manager addressed this concern during the inspection.

People’s health risks were mostly assessed and managed safely. One person who was at risk of choking did not have a suitable risk assessment and care plan in place to eat safely. We raised our concerns with the registered manager, who made an appropriate referral to the speech and language therapy (SaLT) team and reviewed the person’s care records during the inspection. Other people who were at risk of choking had risk assessments in place, their meals were at the correct consistency and staff knew how to support them to eat safely.

People told us they felt safe and were comfortable to speak with staff or management if they had any worries or concerns. One person told us, “I would tell one of the carers, they always listen.” Staff received safeguarding training and understood their duty to prevent and report potential abuse.

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 able to make choices and did not feel restricted. One person said, “I lead a fairly free life here.” Visitors were welcomed inside the service or people could go out with them as they pleased.

People and their relatives gave positive feedback about the staff. One relative said, “They are really exceptional, not patronising but patient and nice.” A person told us, “The staff are nice, and they are kind, they do know me well.”

People, their relatives and staff told us they felt comfortable to make suggestions or complain if needed, they were confident the management team would deal with any problems. Relatives told us staff and management kept them up to date with changes to their loved ones.

Staff and the management team worked closely with health and social care professionals to improve people’s care, safety and well-being.

Quality assurance processes were effective in identifying areas for improvement. The management team devised a home improvement plan to address any shortfalls and continually learn and develop the service.

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 (published 6 April 2021).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted, in part, due to concerns received about the provider’s approach to visiting, responding to concerns and risk of a closed culture. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine the concerns across a range of Caring Homes services. We received concerns in relation to people’s nursing care needs. 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 good based on the findings of this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well-led sections 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 that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

Follow up

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