28 November 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Crest House Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 21 people. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Quality assurance systems were not always effective in identifying issues at the service. Improvements were needed to audits relating to the environment and medicines. The provider needed to improve oversight of quality assurance processes to ensure that risks to people could be identified and managed.
The provider and registered manager instilled a caring, person centred culture which the staff team reflected. People’s care plans were person-centred and written in partnership with people. People were supported by staff that were safely recruited and trained to meet people’s assessed needs.
People, relatives and staff told us they were given regular opportunities to give feedback on the service and felt listened to by the management team. Health professionals were positive about partnership working with staff at the home.
People and their relatives were positive about their experience of the service and the support provided by staff. One relative told us, “It’s smashing there, like a home from home. They are like extended family and [person] is well cared for. The carers are amazing people. Because it’s a small home, you get to know everyone, and they make me feel welcome too. You couldn’t ask for more.”
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 were offered choices by staff and were empowered to make their own decisions.
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 13 December 2018).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service sustained a serious injury. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of the environment. This inspection examined those risks.
As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. 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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Crest House Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
We have identified a breach in relation to good governance at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
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.