Background to this inspection
Updated
13 January 2022
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 completed by two inspectors.
Service and service type
Hope Green 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 did not have a manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission. A new manager had recently been recruited who was in the processing of registering. 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 professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also observed interactions between staff and people living at Hope Green Residential Home. We spoke with ten members of staff including the regional director, the previous manager, senior carers, carers and ancillary staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at a sample of temporary (agency) worker records in relation to suitability for the role and induction. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We spoke with the new manager and continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
13 January 2022
About the service
Hope Green Residential Home was providing personal care to 46 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 54 people across two separate households.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Governance systems to monitor the quality of care being delivered to people had improved. However, some aspects required further development to ensure the cleanliness of the home was maintained as well as ensuring people received their prescribed medicines, including creams, as directed. All other aspects of medicines were managed safely.
There had been several changes of management at Hope Green Residential Home since our last inspection. This inconsistency meant some relatives didn’t always feel the management team was responsive to any issues or concerns they had raised and didn’t always feel well informed. There was a new manager recently appointed who knew the service well.
Appropriate checks on temporary (agency) and permanent members of staff were in place to ensure they were suitable for the role before starting employment. Additional recruitment was underway to ensure people received consistent care and the environment could be maintained appropriately.
Care plans were in place, supported by appropriate risk assessments, to ensure people’s needs were met. These were person centred and reflective of people’s personal preferences.
Systems were in place to monitor and appropriately report accidents and incidents to external agencies.
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 20 January 2021) and there were three breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
At this inspection found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to cleanliness, staffing levels and poor management of risks to people’s care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
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 reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions 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 have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hope Green Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.