Richden Park Care Home

Updated 5 August 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

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Richden Park is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission 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. 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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight members of staff including the regional manager, the business development manager, the care and support coordinator, the deputy manager, a senior care assistant, two care assistants and the head chef. We spoke with three people who used the service about their experience of the care provided.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and supplementary records. We reviewed three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A range of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with two relatives of people who used the service and one professional.

Updated 5 August 2021

About the service

Richden Park is a residential care home providing personal to 34 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 52 people, some of whom may be living with Dementia.

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

People felt safe and well cared for. People were supported to maintain their independence where possible and were positive about staff’s approach and conduct.

A registered manager was not in post at the time of the inspection. We discussed this with the provider and explained this would impact on the rating for well-led. The provider gave assurances that a suitable registered manager had been recruited and would commence employment in the near future. In the absence of a registered manager, the service was supported by the business development manager, a care and support coordinator and the regional manager.

Medicines were managed safely, although we identified some minor improvements which were required with people’s ‘as and when required ’ medicines to support staff. The provider took immediate action to improve protocols.

Staff were recruited safely and attended a programme of induction before providing care to people.

The provider had oversight of the quality and safety of the service through audits and gathered feedback from staff and stakeholders. This information was used to improve the service.

Checks were carried out regularly to ensure the safety of the premises for people who live there and staff.

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.

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 December 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the safety of people living at the service and a lack of support with nutrition and hydration. 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 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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Richden Park 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.