18 October 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Virginia Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 32 people. The service provides support to older people including those who may be living with a dementia and/or a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 19 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People felt safe with kind and caring staff. Risks associated with people using the service or other elements of the home including safety, were assessed and monitored. Accidents and incidents were recorded and reported appropriately.
Medicines were managed safely. The service manager updated some records during the inspection and arranged support from the controlled drugs liaison officer to enhance practice.
Staff provided food and refreshments which people enjoyed and met their individual needs.
Infection control procedures were safe, and the home was kept clean and tidy.
There was enough staff to support people safely, although it was acknowledged it was busy at times. An ongoing safe recruitment process was in place to fill vacant posts. Staff were supported and received a range of training to support them in their roles. We have made a recommendation regarding staff appraisals.
A range of quality assurance checks were in place to monitor the service delivered to people.
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 (published 4 November 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. 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 improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 23 August 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve, safe care and treatment, consent and quality assurance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-Led which contain those requirements.
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.
For the key question of Caring and Responsive which were not inspected, we used the rating awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Virginia Lodge 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.