Abbcross Nursing Home

Updated 30 January 2024

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors, a specialist nursing advisor 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

Abbcross Nursing Home is a ‘care home’ in which people 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.

Registered manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included feedback from professionals and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law. 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 the registered manager and the managing director. We also spoke with 10 nursing and care staff, 3 members of domestic and laundry staff and 2 kitchen staff.

We carried out short observations of people’s care and spoke with 6 people for their feedback on the home and 1 visiting relative.

We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We reviewed 9 people's care plans, which included risk assessments and 5 staff recruitment and training files. We looked at other documents such as those for medicine management, quality assurance and infection control records. After the inspection we continued to seek clarification from the provider and validate evidence found.

Updated 30 January 2024

About the service

Abbcross Nursing Home is a care home registered to provide nursing and personal care to people, aged 65 years and over. It can support up to 28 people and at the time of the inspection, 24 people were living in the home. The home has three floors with adapted facilities and en-suite rooms.

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

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Medicines were administered to people as prescribed. However, we have made a recommendation for the provider to follow best practice guidance on managing medicines because protocols for certain medicines were not in place or contained incorrect information. Risks related to people's health and care needs were assessed and monitored. Some risk assessments required further development with more suitable guidance for staff, so they could provide safe care. We have made a recommendation about this.

Staff were recruited appropriately and there were suitable numbers of staff on each shift to meet people's needs. Systems were in place to record and monitor accidents and incidents in the home. People were protected from the risks associated with the spread of infection.

People's needs were assessed before they started to use the service. They were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported by staff who were trained. Staff worked with other health care professionals to ensure people were in good health. People were encouraged to maintain a healthy balanced diet. They were provided food and drink that met their preferences and needs. We made a recommendation about reviewing people's fluid intake.

Staff were kind and compassionate towards people. They treated them with respect and their views were listened to and their requests acted upon. People received person-centred care. Care plans provided guidance on how to support people, in accordance with their choices and communication needs. Activities for people took place but the provider was working on improving the activities programme and used feedback from people and relatives to help with this.

People and their relatives were positive about the management team and could approach them with any concerns. Complaints were responded to appropriately. There was a positive culture in the home and equality, diversity and inclusion was promoted. The provider had systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided.

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 was Good (report published 7 January 2018).

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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