29 September 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
The Cambridge Care Home provides accommodation, nursing and personal care to up to 90 older people, some of whom are living with dementia. The service is set over two floors and has various communal rooms and a secure garden available for people to use. At the time of our inspection there were 36 people living at the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
At the previous inspection we found that care was task led rather than focussing on the person. During this inspection we found that not enough improvement had been made. We saw that there was very little staff interaction with people other than when care and support tasks needed completing. People told us that staff did not have time to chat with them and they sometimes had to wait considerable times for assistance. Staff did not always treat people with respect and dignity.
Action had not always been taken to mitigate risks to people. However, a lack of action meant that there was an increased risk to people living at the home. We found no evidence that people had been harmed but further action was needed to ensure people were safe. Procedures were in place to assess if people were at risk of dehydration and/or malnutrition. However, these procedures were not always followed by staff to encourage people to eat/drink more when they had not met their food and drink intake targets.
Not enough improvements had been made since the previous inspection to ensure that people received a good service. The issues we found during this inspection had not been identified by the homes quality monitoring systems. The regional director, registered manager and deputy manager at The Cambridge Care Home had all changed since the previous inspection. The current management team acknowledged the feedback given during the inspection and put plans in place to make the necessary improvements. However, it was too soon for these actions to be embedded.
There was a high use of agency staff in the home however permanent staff were being recruited
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.
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 requires improvement (report published 02 March 2022). The service remains rated requires improvement. 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 the provider remained in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to staffing, safety and the quality of care provided to people. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only. We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, caring and well-led sections of this report. 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 see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Cambridge 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 breaches in relation to reducing risks to people’s safety, treating people with dignity and respect and identifying areas for improvement and making the necessary improvements 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.