Priory Park Care Home

Priory Park is a care home providing accommodation for up to 40 older people, including people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 27 people living at the home.

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

The service was safe. Medicines were well managed, and staff told us they were confident giving people medicines. Staff were aware of how to identify and report safeguarding concerns. Staff followed infection control procedures, one person told us,” When we visit, we feel safe knowing procedures are in place”. Staff were able to tell us about the risks to people and knew how support people to minimise the risks.

The service was effective. 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. People were involved in their care planning. Staff told us that they received training and felt supported in their role. One staff member said, “ I am supported from the minute I had the interview I felt welcome.”.

The service was caring. People told us that the staff treated them with kindness and respect. One person said, “The staff are so patient they take time and really understand my relative’s needs.” Staff were aware of how to protect people’s privacy and dignity and people told us that the staff did this well. People felt supported to make decisions about their daily lives.

The service was responsive. People told us they knew how to complain and there was a policy and procedure in place. One person told us, “The manager is very approachable and listens and actions everything.” Staff had received training in end of life care. Staff were aware of people’s communication needs and how best to support them. There was an activities coordinator who offered a number of activities to support people’s well-being.

The service was well led. People told us the service was well managed, one person told us, “The manager is very approachable and makes us feel very at ease when talking to her”. Staff told us staff meetings took place and were used as a forum to share information. There was a positive staff culture. We found the management team receptive to feedback and keen to improve the service. The registered manager worked with us in a positive manner and provided all the information we requested in a timely manner.

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 the service under the previous provider was inadequate, published on 10 December 2019. This is the first comprehensive inspection under the new provider.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. The last inspection was a targeted inspection where we found some concerns.

During this inspection 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.

We carried out an unannounced targeted inspection of this service on 27 November 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found in safe care and treatment and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

We undertook this comprehensive inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. During this inspection we found that improvements had been made and the service were no longer in breach of any regulations.

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.

Priory Park is a care home providing accommodation for up to 40 older people, including people living with dementia. At the time of the inspection there were 26 people living at the home.

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

We received information raising concerns about infection prevention and control practices in the home and staff not following the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We also received safeguarding concerns regarding the quality of care provided to people on one of the units in the home. We identified improvements were required to support people with their oral hygiene and to ensure they had the right equipment to allow them to get out of their beds.

Prior to the inspection we received information that whistleblowing processes were not being followed. We did not identify any additional concerns in relation to Priory Park Care Home. However, we found that the provider’s policy needed further clarity to reflect best practice and to ensure staff were aware of the escalation processes required to share information and ensure people were safe from harm. We have made a recommendation about this.

We inspected the home to see how staff were following national and local COVID-19 guidance including the correct use of PPE and observe how people were cared for. We found people were not adequately protected from the risk of acquiring infections because systems for preventing the spread of infections were not implemented effectively. Staff were not always following the latest guidance on the use of PPE, guidance on the safe admission of people was not robustly followed and infection prevention audits had not been regularly completed.

People were not adequately supported with their oral hygiene. We made a recommendation about oral hygiene practices.

The registered manager was working closely with the local safeguarding team to reflect on the current practice within the service to ensure that lessons were learnt and to make improvements where needed.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was inadequate, published on 19 December 2019.

Why we inspected

We undertook this targeted inspection to follow up on specific concerns which we had received about the service. The inspection was prompted in response to concerns received about infection prevention practices, staff not using PPE in line with national guidance, safeguarding concerns and staff training and induction. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have introduced targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check specific concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to the concerns raised about infection prevention and control and oral hygiene and good governance. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

We took enforcement action and issued the provider a warning notice in relation to infection prevention and control. Please see the action we have told the provider to take in relation to good governance at the end of this report.

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

Follow up

We will request an action plan for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.