Archived: Chaucer House

Updated 14 August 2019

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.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by three inspectors.

Service and service type

Chaucer House 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.

The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The provider had appointed a manager who had submitted an application to be registered with the CQC.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before 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. We did not ask the provider to send us 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 five people, and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We observed staff interactions with people and observed care and support in communal areas. We spoke with eight members of staff including the manager, deputy manager, nurses and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three 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 spoke with a healthcare professional who had visited the service.

We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

Updated 14 August 2019

About the service

Chaucer House is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 60 people. There were 36 people at the time of the inspection,

The care home accommodates people across two separate floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities. One of the floors specialises in providing care to people living with dementia.

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

People told us since the last inspection, their experience at the service had improved. Risks to people had been assessed and mitigated, and there had been improvements to medicine management, but further improvement and embedding of this practice was needed.

Audits and quality reviews of the service were being completed regularly by the manager and provider, and action was taken when areas for improvements were identified, however these systems had only been in place for a short period of time, and therefore we could not assess the effectiveness of them.

Staffing levels had increased, and there were more permanent staff who knew people better. People and their relatives told us they felt safe living at Chaucer House as a result of the staffing levels.

Staff were now receiving more regular training and supervision to enable them to support people effectively. Assessments had been carried out when people’s needs changed to ensure the person received the relevant support needed.

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.

People told us they were supported by a kind caring staff team who knew them well and understood their needs. People had been supported to review and be involved in the updating of their care plans.

People were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well and supported them to maintain their interests.

The number of complaints received by Chaucer House had decreased since our last inspection.

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 1 March 2019) 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. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 1 March 2019. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements had 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

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

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.

We will request an action plan for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.