Archived: Laburnum Court Care Centre

Laburnum Court Care Centre is situated in a residential area of Salford. The home provides nursing care as well as care for people living with dementia. The home provides single occupancy rooms, across two units, which are known internally as 'The Lowry' and ‘The Priory’. The home is registered to support up to 68 people. At the time of inspection 49 people were living at the home.

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

Improvements were required with medicines management and the audit and governance process, including contemporaneous record keeping such as personal care, repositioning and food and fluid charts.

We have issued a recommendation in relation to staff training completion.

People told us they felt safe living at Laburnum Court Care Centre. Relatives also reported no concerns with the safety of care provision in the home, nor the staff who provided this. Staff received training in safeguarding and knew how to report concerns. Safeguarding alerts had been made to the local authority as necessary. Accidents, incidents and falls had been documented, with analysis completed to identify causes and try and prevent a reoccurrence. We found the home to be clean, with effective cleaning and infection control processes in place.

Staff received supervision and support to help them carry out their roles. 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’s healthcare needs were being met. Referrals had been made in a timely manner to professionals when any issues had been noted or concerns raised. Overall, people were happy with the food provided and told us they got enough to eat and drink.

People and relatives were happy with the care provided and spoke positively about the staff. Staff were described as “friendly”, “polite”, “wonderful” and “very good”. People confirmed they were given choice and their dignity was respected. People with protected characteristics were supported in line with their needs and wishes.

Care files explained people’s needs and how they wanted to be supported, although the transfer to an electronic care planning system had resulted in some inconsistencies in the quality of information. Peoples’ social and recreational needs were met through an activities programme, facilitated by an activity co-ordinator and staff members. The complaints process was displayed around the home and people and relatives told us they knew how to complain and would happily speak to staff or the registered manager if needed.

People and relatives told us the home was well run and spoke positively about the registered manager and staff. Some people and relatives said they had picked the home based on positive recommendations from others and would be happy to recommend the home themselves. People’s views were sought through meetings and surveys.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 1 September 2021 and this is the first inspection under the current provider. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published May 2019.

Why we inspected

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

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 have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe, Effective and Well-led sections of the full report.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to medicines management, staff training and governance processes, including record keeping at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. 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.

Visitors to the home needed to sign in, provide evidence of, or complete a negative lateral flow device (LFD) test and put on personal protective equipment (PPE). Professionals also needed to provide evidence of their vaccination status via the NHS app or COVID pass. A vaccination log was then completed and stored on file.

Contact with relatives had been maintained throughout the pandemic. The home had ensured any changes to guidance had been communicated via social media, letters and verbally through phone calls. During the initial stages of the pandemic, a visiting pod had been created to support safe visiting, alongside this the home had supported contact through phone and video calls and window visits. Indoor visiting was now being facilitated in line with current guidance.

The home had sufficient supplies of PPE which was applied and worn correctly by staff. Staff had completed training in infection control and safe use of PPE, with competency checks completed to ensure ongoing compliance. Regular hand hygiene checks had also been carried out.

The home had robust cleaning procedures in place, which had increased in response to the pandemic. Frequent touch points had been cleaned regularly.

All staff completed regular COVID-19 testing, consisting of both LFD and PCR tests. Additional testing of both people and staff had been implemented following the discovery of positive cases within the home. This had identified a number of positive cases amongst people living at the home who were asymptomatic.

Social distancing, cohorting and zoning had been used effectively to support people and staff to remain safe. Staff were allocated to work in specific areas of the home.