23 July 2021
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Garden Hill Care Centre is a care home that provides personal care for up to 40 people, some of whom are living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 32 people living in the home.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe living in the home and with the support they received from staff. People spoke very highly of the staff and said they were kind, patient and always treated them with dignity. People and relatives said, “The staff are very good, and we have plenty of laughs. They are very kind and give any help we need” and, “The staff are lovely people and I have a great respect for them, they are empathetic to me as well.”
People were safeguarded from abuse. Risks to individuals and the environment were well managed. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. The provider learned from accidents and incidents to mitigate future risks. Medicines were safely managed. Infection control processes were embedded into the service and staff followed government guidance in relation to infection control and prevention practices, in particular, relating to COVID-19.
People were well supported and cared for. Staff treated people with respect and supported them in a dignified manner and in line with their wishes. A relative told us, “The staff treat everyone with dignity and patience.” People were encouraged to be as independent as possible, where it was safe to do so.
The home was well managed. People and relatives were complimentary about the home and care people received. A relative told us, “Generally we are happy with the care and service and wouldn’t move [family member] anywhere else. Everyone appears well looked after. The atmosphere is good, the carers make it like they are all family.” The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place which included regular audits. People and relatives were regularly consulted about the quality of the service through surveys, meetings and reviews.
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 requires improvement (published 19 September 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to people’s care and support, staffing levels, and the management of the home. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring 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 changed from requires improvement to 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 these concerns. Please see the safe, caring and well-led sections of this full report.
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 Garden Hill Care Centre 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.