Kents Hill Care Home

Updated 19 September 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 12 and 14 August 2018 and was unannounced .

The inspection was carried out by one inspector on 12 August, and one inspector and an expert by experience on 14 August. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return [PIR]. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the PIR prior to our visit and took this into account when we made judgements in this report.

We reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications that the provider had sent us. A statutory notification provides information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We also contacted the Local Authority and the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) for any information they held on the service.

We spoke with 10 people who used the service, 3 relatives of people using the service, four support workers, two nurses, the chef, the quality manager, and the manager. We reviewed six people’s care records to ensure they were reflective of their needs, five staff files, and other documents relating to the management of the service such as maintenance records, user feedback, and meeting minutes.

Updated 19 September 2018

Kents Hill Care Home 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.

Kents Hill Care Home is located in a residential area of Milton Keynes and is registered to provide

Accommodation and personal care to people who may or may not have nursing care needs. Kents Hill Care home accommodates up to 75 people across three separate units. One of the units specialises in providing care to people living with dementia. When we visited there were 46 people living at the service.

At the last inspection in August 2017, the service was rated Requires Improvement. We found breaches of regulation 9 - Person centred care, and Regulation 17 - Good governance. Following the last inspection, we met with the provider to confirm what they would do and by when to improve the key questions ‘responsive’ and ‘well led’ to at least good. At this inspection on 12 and 14 August 2018 we found the service had improved to Good. We found that improvements had been made to person centred planning arrangements and auditing systems that had been implemented, and the service was no longer in breach of these regulations.

There was not a registered manager in post. The service had a manager who was going through the registration process with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff had a good understanding of abuse and the safeguarding procedures that should be followed to report abuse and incidents of concern. Risk assessments were in place to manage potential risks within people’s lives, whilst also promoting their independence.

The staff recruitment procedures ensured that appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service. Adequate staffing levels were in place. Staffing support matched the level of assessed needs within the service during our inspection.

Staff induction training and on-going training was provided to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and support they needed to perform their roles. Specialist training was provided to make sure that people’s needs were met and they were supported effectively.

Staff were well supported by the registered manager and senior team, and had regular one to one supervisions. The staff we spoke with were all positive about the senior staff and management in place, and were happy with the support they received.

People's consent was gained before any care was provided. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them and their specific needs and wishes. Care plans reflected people’s likes and dislikes, and staff spoke with people in a friendly manner.

People were involved in their own care planning and were able to contribute to the way in which they were supported. People and their family were involved in reviewing their care and making any necessary changes.

A process was in place which ensured people could raise any complaints or concerns. Concerns were acted upon promptly and lessons were learned through positive communication.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. Actions were taken and improvements were made when required.