Larchwood Nursing and Residential Home

Updated 14 July 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

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Larchwood Nursing and Residential Home 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. Although they are currently on maternity leave and a peripatetic manager was covering the service. This means that the provider is 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 health 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 five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the peripatetic manager, regional support manager, senior care worker and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included one person’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including, audits, policies and procedures were viewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from one professional who had recently visited the service.

Updated 14 July 2021

About the service

Larchwood Nursing and Residential Home is care home providing personal and nursing care to 34 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. Some of those people were living with dementia. The service can support up to 48 people.

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

People we spoke with were very happy living at Larchwood. One relative we spoke with said, “I’ve been very impressed with [Family member’s] care. Staff are lovely and delightful.”

Overall improvements had been made to the medication processes. Although we did find improvements were required in the records, the peripatetic manager provided evidence that these had been dealt with appropriately.

Systems ensured that people's risks were well managed, and lessons were learnt when things went wrong. There was an open culture within the service, where people and staff could approach the peripatetic manager who acted on concerns raised to make improvements to people's care.

The peripatetic manager notified the CQC of incidents they were required to. The peripatetic manager and staff promoted satisfactory infection control and cross contamination processes.

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 requires improvement (published 2 May 2019).

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.

The service remains requires improvement. This service has been rated either requires improvement or inadequate for the last four inspections.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had made the necessary improvements and to confirm they now met the legal requirement. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained the same. This is based on the findings 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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Larchwood Nursing and Residential Home 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.