• Care Home
  • Care home

Ridley Park

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Forster Street, Blyth, Northumberland, NE24 3BG (01670) 367800

Provided and run by:
Bupa Care Homes (HH Northumberland) Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 31 August 2023

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Ridley Park is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Ridley Park is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. The previous registered manager had recently resigned, and the deputy manager was acting manager and overseeing the service until a new manager was recruited and an application to register was made.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we already held about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We contacted the local authority safeguarding and commissioning teams, the local fire service, local infection control teams and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to support our planning process.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with 9 people and observed numerous other people’s interactions with staff. We spoke with 15 relatives or visitors in person or via telephone.

We gained feedback from 31 staff, including the acting manager, regional director, peripatetic manager, regional support manager, quality assurance manager, nurses, senior care, care, administration, kitchen, and maintenance staff.

We spoke with 2 district nurses during our visit and contacted the local GP and 4 other health care professionals to gain their feedback on the service.

During our visit we looked at 3 care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff support. We also viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 31 August 2023

About the service

Ridley Park is a nursing home for up to 59 people. Most people using the service were older adults. Some people were living with the experience of dementia. At the time of our inspection 57 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People felt safe, and staff followed safeguarding procedures to protect people from harm. Staff had received safeguarding training. However, there was a safeguarding investigation currently underway which indicated there was a lapse in some staff following the providers safeguarding policies and procedures, including the previous registered manager.

Medicines were generally well managed. We have made a recommendation to enhance procedures. Quality assurance checks were in place, and we have recommended the medicines audits are also reviewed as part of the evaluation.

There were enough staff and they had been recruited safely.

Staff had not always felt supported by the previous registered manager. Staff and people’s meetings had not always taken place as often as the provider required. Staff felt better supported by the current acting manager.

Risk assessments were in place to mitigate any harm to people. The service was well serviced and had emergency procedures in place should an untoward event occur.

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

The last rating for this service was outstanding (published 3 December 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines and safeguarding people. 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. The overall rating for the service has changed to good based on the findings of this inspection.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation in relation to medicines management.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ridley Park on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.