Dalby Court Residential Care Home

Dalby Court Residential Care Home is a care home providing personal care to up to 66 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. The home has 2 floors. The ground floor provides accommodation for residential care and the first floor provides accommodation for people living with dementia. At the time of this inspection, 59 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

People told us they felt safe living at Dalby Court Residential Care Home. Staff had received safeguarding training and processes were in place to ensure any safeguarding concerns were reported, investigated and acted upon.

Risks to people had been assessed and recorded. Where people’s needs changed, records had been updated to reflect this.

Medicines were stored, recorded and administered safely. Thorough processes were in place to monitor medicine management.

Staff were recruited safely and provided with effective support and training to ensure they had the skills required for their role. Staff spoke highly of the management team and support they provided.

The home was clean and tidy throughout and staff followed good infection, prevention and control measures. A refurbishment plan was in place and recent improvements had been completed to windows, bathrooms and shower rooms. Further improvements were ongoing on the dementia unit within the home including new signage and redecoration.

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 were supported to maintain a balanced diet. There were plenty of options available at mealtimes and snacks were served throughout the day. Where concerns had been identified in relation to weight loss, actions had been put in place to manage this.

People’s care and support needs were closely monitored, and prompt action was taken to seek support and guidance from relevant professionals. Professionals spoke highly of the service and the support provided.

There was an open and honest culture within the service. Thorough quality assurance systems meant any issues or errors were quickly identified and addressed.

People, relatives and staff were regularly asked to provide feedback on the service provided. Any feedback was listened to and action taken where possible.

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 20 August 2022).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of people’s care and support needs, staff training and infection control. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dalby Court Residential Care 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.

Dalby Court Residential Care Home is a care home providing personal care to up to 66 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of this inspection, 50 people were living at the service.

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

People told us they felt safe living at the service. There was sufficient staff on duty and safe recruitment processes had been followed.

Risks to people had been assessed, recorded and reviewed on a regular basis. Risk relating to the environment had also been assessed and appropriate maintenance checks were completed on a regular basis.

Medicines had been stored, administered and recorded appropriately. Staff had received training and support to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to carry out their roles.

People were provided with ample choices in relation to food and fluid. People’s health was monitored, and other professionals were contacted in a timely manner if any concerns were identified.

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 were supported to be involved in making decisions about their care and support.

People were treated with dignity and respect and their independence was prompted. Care plans contained person-centred information. Positive relationships had been developed between people and staff.

Effective governance systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service provided. People spoke highly of the registered manager and their approach. Lesson learnt were shared with the staff team to prevent reoccurrence.

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 the service under the previous provider was Good published on 14 August 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

We found the following examples of good practice.

At the time of the inspection the home was allowing essential visits only, for example a relative of a person receiving end of life care. Visitors were required to complete a health questionnaire before visiting the home. Temperature checks were completed on arrival and PPE (personal protective equipment) was available for all visitors. Lateral flow testing was also done, and results obtained prior to visits taking place.

Alternatives such as video calls were arranged for families who could not visit. Window visits were going to recommence shortly and there was also a specially purchased visiting ‘pod’ in the garden of the home. The pod would allow for socially distanced visits to take place once it was safe to do so.

Staff changed into their uniform before the start of their shift and changed again before going home. We observed staff wearing PPE correctly throughout the home.

There was a plentiful supply of PPE and a number of PPE stations around the home so staff could change their PPE prior to entering individual rooms. Clinical waste bins were in place for the safe disposal of used PPE. Staff had received training in the appropriate use of PPE and infection prevention and control (IPC) training. There were posters around the home reminding staff about the safe use of PPE and refresher training had been booked with a specialist IPC nurse.

The home was very clean and tidy. Furniture in communal areas had been arranged to maximise social distancing. Enhanced cleaning schedules were in place. These included regular cleaning of touch areas such as handrails and door handles to reduce the risk of cross infection. Suitable arrangements were also in place to manage contaminated laundry.

There was a detailed infection prevention and control policy in place and regular checks were completed.