Archived: Queensmead

Updated 3 March 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 17 February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service one days’ notice of the inspection.

[

Updated 3 March 2022

Queensmead is a residential care home for up to 40 older people, some of whom have dementia. There were 40 people living at the home at the time of inspection. The building offers accommodation over three floors with lift access to each floor. People have access to communal lounge and dining areas, an accessible garden and outside space.

Queensmead is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Queensmead has a registered manager but they had transferred to another location and so were not present during our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. At our inspection a manager had been appointed who was overseeing the service and would be making a registered manager application to CQC.

People and their families described the care as safe and were safeguarded as staff understood their role in recognising and reporting any concerns of abuse or poor practice. Staff had been recruited safely with checks including their suitablility to work with vulnerable people. People were protected from discrimination as staff respected people’s individuality. Staffing levels were flexible which meant they were able to respond to people’s changing care needs. Staff had completed an induction and had on-going training and support that enabled them to carry out their roles effectively.

People had their risks assessed and were involved in decisions about the actions needed to minimise risks of avoidable harm. Staff were knowledgable about people’s risks and understood their role in keeping people safe from harm. Staff understood the actions they needed to take to minimise the risk of preventable infections. Medicines were ordered, administered, recorded and disposed of safely by trained staff that had completed medicine administration training. Accidents, incidents and safeguardings were reviewed to see how service delivery could be improved and when actions had been identified they were dealt with in a timely way.

Pre admission assessments had been completed that captured people’s needs, choices and equipment required. This information had been used to create person centred care plans that reflected people’s individuality and life style choices. People felt involved in decisions about their care and were involved, with their families when appropriate, in care reviews. Working with other agencies such as district nurses and community mental health teams enabled effective care to be provided. People were supported to access healthcare both in planned and emergency situations. People had opportunities to be involved in their end of life planning and had their last wishes respected.

People had their eating and drinking needs understood by both the catering and care teams. People enjoyed the food and were offered choices at mealtimes with snacks and drinks available throughout the day and night. When people had risks associated with choking safe swallowing plans were in place and followed.

The building and secure gardens were accessible to people and provided opportunities for both social and private time. There was a lack of signage around the home such as the location of toilets which impacted on some people’s ability to orientate themselves independently around the home.

People 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. Working with other professionals had enabled people to get the care and support they needed including appropriate equipment and access to healthcare. A complaints procedure was in place that people felt able to use and be listened to with actions taken to solve any issues.

People spoke positively about the level of care and had their privacy, dignity and independence respected by the staff team. We observed kind, patient, friendly interactions with people and staff demonstrated they understood people’s communication needs.

The culture of the home was open and friendly with people, their families and the staff team feeling able to contribute to the development of the service. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities, spoke proudly of teamwork and felt appreciated in their roles. Auditing processes were robust and provided effective oversight of service delivery enabling actions to be taken when improvements were identified. Partnerships with other organisations enabled continual learning and provided best practice guidance that supported good standards of care.