Frenchay House

Updated 4 July 2023

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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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

Frenchay House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Frenchay House is a care home without nursing care. 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

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included the statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification includes information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 9 people living at the service and 6 relatives. We also used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We spoke with 9 members of staff, including the registered manager and group manager. We received feedback from 3 professionals who worked with the service. The views of everyone we spoke with have been incorporated into this report.

We viewed a range of records and documents. This included 4 people’s care records and all medicine records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We checked a variety of records relating to the management of the service. This included policies and procedures, quality assurance checks and health and safety documents.

We considered this information to help us to make a judgement about the service.

Updated 4 July 2023

About the service

Frenchay House is a care home providing accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care. The service provides support to older people, including those who are living with dementia. Up to 30 people can live at Frenchay House. At the time of our inspection there were 28 people using the service.

Frenchay House is located in a large, listed building in a village location. There are communal areas, and some people live in flats with individual lounges and bathrooms.

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

We highlighted some gaps in medicines records to the provider. Additional information and assurances were given after the inspection with actions taken to meet all standards. Staff were trained to support people with medicines in a way that met their needs.

Governance processes were effective overall, although the most recent medicine audit had not highlighted all of the shortfalls we identified during the inspection. These were identified at the subsequent medicines audit and actions taken as necessary. Audits supported the service to identify, monitor and address performance and risks.

People we spoke with, and their relatives all told us they felt safe living at Frenchay House. People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and staff team. We observed others looking comfortable and relaxed around staff.

Staff received training and knew what they should do to safeguard people from abuse or harm. Specific risks to people were assessed before admission, monitored and reviewed regularly. Staff knew about risks for different individuals.

Staff managed the safety of the living environment and equipment in it through regular checks. Fire safety was monitored, and actions taken as required to manage risks.

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 service supported this practice.

There were enough appropriately skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. This was regularly reviewed. Staff were recruited safely by the provider, and there was a consistent staff team. The team worked with other health and social care services to promote good outcomes for people and keep them safe.

Staff were motivated and committed to providing high quality care to people and ensuring their needs continued to be met. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and felt well supported by the management team and their colleagues.

The management team were experienced and played an active role in the service. Staff told us managers were visible and approachable. There was a culture of continuous improvement and staff at all levels were encouraged to follow interests and take up training and new opportunities.

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 02 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and the time since our last inspection. We only reviewed the safe and well led key questions at this inspection. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Frenchay House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.