28 September 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Icknield Court is a residential care home registered to provide personal care and support for up to 90 people aged 65 and over, some of whom are living with dementia. There were 37 people living at the home at the time of the inspection. People’s living accommodation is across two floors, each floor had separate areas called houses. There were six houses in total. Each house had seating areas, dining space and kitchen facilities. People had individual bedrooms with level access shower and toilet facilities. We observed people had free access to a large courtyard area. The home was bright and well- maintained.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe living at the home. Comments included “Yes, I think I feel safe, very safe, living here, it is the right environment for me”, “I think we know that we are in a safe home and in safe hands”. Another person told us “I am 95 years old and I know that I could move and live here (permanently) … and I would be comfortable here, at the moment I wouldn’t change anything here and if something is wrong you only have to open your mouth and it is usually done”.
Records we viewed were not routinely consistent, accurate and complete. We found some further improvements were required to ensure people’s records reflected their needs and were updated in a timely manner.
People were not routinely supported by staff who ensured robust medicine management was in place or best practice guidance was followed. We found improvements were required in the records held about people’s prescribed medicines.
Each person had care plans in place for staff to follow, which describes their likes and choices. However, where people were staying short term at the home, these care plans were less comprehensive. We have made a recommendation about this in the report.
People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely and had been provided with training and support to ensure they had the right skills and attributes to work with them.
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 home supported this practice.
People were supported by a management team who were keen to ensure they experienced a good level of well-being. The registered manager had supported staff to understand the expected level of quality of care to be provided to people. We received positive feedback about the management team.
The home management team worked well with external healthcare professionals. One GP commented “Understanding of residents’ needs and medical conditions has been excellent”.
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 inadequate (published 23 September 2020) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment and good governance.
At this inspection we found some improvements had been made, however we found enough improvement had not been sustained and the provider was still in breach of regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since December 2019. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 17, 18 and 19 September 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. We took enforcement action and issued warning notices for regulation 12 and 17. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, person-centred care, support for staff and good governance. We carried out a focused inspection on 29 and 30 July 2020 to check if the warning notices had been met. We found the provider was still in breach of regulations in the areas of safe care and treatment and good governance. Following the focused inspection, a decision was made not to escalate any enforcement. We took into account the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.
We undertook this focused inspection to check what action had been made since the last inspection and to confirm the service’s compliance with legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe, Effective and Well-led.
The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. 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.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to medicine management and good record management at this inspection.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Icknield Court 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.