Hazelmere House Care Home

Updated 15 July 2021

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one nurse specialist advisor.

Service and service type

Hazelmere House 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 had a manager who was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are 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 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 four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the manager, the clinical lead, maintenance and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and a sample of medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to review evidence that was sent remotely as well as seeking clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at audit and governance data, as well as infection prevention and control policies and procedures.

Updated 15 July 2021

About the service

Hazelmere House a nursing and residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 40 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 56 people in purpose-built accommodation over two floors.

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

Care and nursing plans were comprehensive, detailed and up to date that detailed people’s current care needs and included how to safely manage any identified risks. Medicines were managed safely by trained staff and people received their medicines as prescribed. The home was very clean and used stringent infection control measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19. Staff were aware of individual risks to people and were knowledgeable about how to safeguard people from abuse. Staff had undergone comprehensive induction, training and safe recruitment checks before providing care.

The home had a manager and clinical lead who were both dynamic, knowledgeable and aspired to provide the best care possible. Feedback from staff, people and relatives about the quality of the service was sought out and valued by the manager and used to drive improvements. Staff told us they felt very supported by an approachable management team and were kept up to date through regular meetings and supervisions. Staff felt they could raise any concerns or ideas for improvement and their comments would be listened to and acted upon. Effective quality assurance and clinical governance systems were in place to ensure oversight of the operations of the home. The manager carried out a comprehensive set of audits and checks to ensure the safety and quality of the service.

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 this service was Good (published 29 May 2019).

Why we inspected

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 received concerns in relation to infection control. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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 good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. 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 Hazelmere House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.