Coppice Court Care Home

Updated 11 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors, and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of caring for someone who used a care home and had a dementia.

Service and service type:

Coppice Court Care Home is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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 had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

Our site inspection was unannounced and was undertaken on the 18 April 2019 with a second visit on the 24 April 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. The registered manager completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us this key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We considered the information which had been shared with us by the local authority and other people, looked at safeguarding alerts and notifications which had been submitted. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

During the inspection we reviewed the records of the service. These included three staff recruitment files, training, medicine and complaint records. Accidents and incidents, quality audits and policies and procedures along with information about the premises.

We looked at five care plans and risk assessments along with other relevant documentation to support our findings. This included 'pathway tracking' two people living at the service. This is when we check that the care detailed in individual plans matches the experience of the person receiving care. It is an important part of our inspection, as it allows us to capture information about a sample of people receiving care.

We spoke with eight people who lived at the home and three visitors. We spoke with eleven members of staff, including the registered manager, the deputy manager two registered nurses, care staff, catering housekeeping and activity staff. We spent time observing people in areas throughout the service and observed the interaction between people and staff.

During the inspection we spoke to two health care professionals and following our inspection, we spoke with three further visiting professionals who provided their view on aspects of specialist support provided to people who lived in the service.

Updated 11 June 2019

About the service:

Coppice Court Care Home provides nursing and personal care for people over 65 and accommodates up to 54 people in a purpose-built building divided into two separate units. The ground floor provides nursing care and support for people living with dementia. The first floor provides care for people whose main nursing needs are related to physical health needs, although people were also living with dementia or memory loss. At the time of this inspection 32 people were living in the service, 17 on the ground floor and 15 on the first floor.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service met characteristics of ‘Good’ in most areas.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Since the previous inspection, significant improvements had been implemented to ensure the breaches and areas for improvement identified had been addressed. Medicine practice and related records had been improved. The reliance on agency staff had reduced and staff training improved to ensure staff had the skills to look after people. Care records and risk assessments were being used to inform the care and support provided and to ensure a person-centred approach to care. Quality monitoring systems had been improved and were being used on a daily basis. However, the provider had not demonstrated that all quality information had been used to improve the service. This included feedback from staff on the staffing levels and the analysis of the call bell response times. These had identified that staff were rushing to complete their work and some call bells were not being answered in a timely fashion.

People at Coppice Court received individualised personalised care that responded to their nursing needs. People told us all their care needs were met in a pleasant environment by staff who were skilled, knowledgeable and kind. One person said, “The care I get is very good, there is a good atmosphere.” Another said, “Oh yes I am very well looked after, I am very happy here.” A relative said, the atmosphere is good, very friendly, staff are always respectful and kind.”

Staff assessed and responded to any risks and took measures to reduce these and to keep people as safe as possible. Staff had a good understanding of how to identify and respond to any suspicion or allegation of abuse or discrimination. Medicines were handled safely.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion. One staff member told us, “I and the rest of the team look after people as they were a family member.” They understood people's needs, choices and histories and knew what was important to each person. Any restriction to people’s liberty were made in the least restrictive way possible to ensure people’s safety. These had been considered in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005.

People were supported to take part in a variety of activities that they enjoyed and were meaningful. The provision of activities and entertainment were well developed and was an important part of people’s lives. They enjoyed the interaction and stimulation that this provided. For example, one person showed us a watercolour they had recently completed. A relative said, “The activity person is remarkable, she lets them achieve at their own level in a natural pleasant way.”

Registered nurses completed clinical training which reflected the needs of people in the home. Staff worked closely with health and social care professionals to secure the best outcomes for people’s health and well-being. Visiting professionals told us staff responded to their input in a positive, professional way and worked with them for people’s benefit.

People's dietary needs were assessed, and food provided was tailored to their individual need. They were supported to eat a range of healthy, freshly cooked meals, drinks and snacks each day.

The registered manager knew people and staff well. They had established a management team that were working hard to support a quality service. They understood their responsibilities and monitored the standard of care and support provided. Complaints had been recorded, investigated and responded to appropriately.

Rating at last inspection: Requires Improvement (report published 8 May 2018).

Why we inspected: We previously inspected Coppice Court Care Home in February 2018. We found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We asked the provider to act to make improvements. They provided us with an action plan. We inspected to follow up on the actions taken by the provider. At this inspection we found the provider was now meeting these legal requirements.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.