Loose Court

Updated 11 February 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 24 January 2022 and was unannounced.

Updated 11 February 2022

About the service

Loose Court is a residential care home without nursing for 42 older people. It can also accommodate people who live with dementia and people who have physical and/or sensory adaptive needs.

At this inspection there were 37 people living in the service. Some people lived with dementia and had special communication needs.

People's experience of using the service and what we found

People and their relatives were positive about the service. A person said, “The staff are friendly and the place is fine for me.” Another person who had special communication needs smiled and waved to a passing member of care staff when we used signed-assisted language to ask them about their home. A relative in a thank-you card said, “The biggest thank-you to each and every one of you. We are grateful that mum’s last years were spent in your loving care. Our heartfelt thanks.”

The local safeguarding of adults authority was investigating three historic occasions when people had fallen and injured themselves. We did not look into these events. After the inspection visit the registered manager told us the authority had concluded their investigation and did not propose to take any further action. At this inspection lessons had been learned when things had gone wrong and people were being helped to avoid preventable accidents.

People received safe care and treatment in line with national guidance. There were enough care staff who had the knowledge and skills they needed and safe recruitment practices were in place. Medicines were safely managed, good standards of hygiene were promoted and people had been helped to quickly receive medical attention when necessary.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The accommodation was designed, adapted and maintained to meet people’s needs and expectations. Repairs were being completed to a small number of defects.

People received compassionate and dignified care. People’s right to privacy was respected and confidential information was managed in the right way. People and their relatives were supported to express their views about things important to them.

People were consulted about their care, were given information in an accessible way and were supported to pursue their hobbies and interests. There was a procedure to resolve complaints and people were treated with compassion at the end of their lives.

People had been consulted about the development of the service, their suggestions had been implemented and quality checks had been completed. Good team work was promoted, regulatory requirements had been met and joint working was in place.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last comprehensive inspection published on 12 May 2017 rated the service as Good. However, there was a breach of regulations because of shortfalls in the management of medicines. A focused inspection was completed on 11 August 2017 at which the breach of regulations had been met (published 28 September 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.