Oaktree Lodge Residential Home

Updated 12 November 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

Oaktree Lodge Residential Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Oaktree Lodge Residential Home is a care home without 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. A new manager had been in post for one month and had applied to register with CQC. We are currently assessing this application.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included the statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification includes information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Some people living at the service were unable to communicate verbally. We spent time observing people in the communal areas of the home to help us understand their experiences.

We spoke with eight members of staff, including the manager, quality assurance and business lead, training manager and a range of staff.

We viewed records and documents. This included four people’s care records and all medicine records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We checked a variety of records relating to the management of the service. This included policies and procedures, quality assurance and health and safety documents.

We received feedback from four relatives or friends of people who lived at the service. The views of everyone we spoke with have been incorporated into this report. We considered this information to help us to make a judgement about the service.

Updated 12 November 2022

About the service

Oaktree Lodge Residential Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 34 people. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people living at the service. Oaktree Lodge Residential Home provides support to older people with a range of health and social care needs, including some people who were living with dementia.

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

Medicines were not always managed safely, or records did not always evidence this. Action was taken during and immediately after the inspection to make improvements.

We found no evidence that people had been harmed, however improvements were required to protect people from the risk of infection and cross contamination. We made a recommendation for the provider to comprehensively review and prioritise the repairs and improvements required at the service to mitigate the risks to the health, safety and welfare of people using the service.

Although systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service, these needed to be embedded and monitored for effectiveness. Action plans ensured tasks were completed and improvements were shared with the staff team. Staff worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure people’s needs were effectively met.

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’s capacity to consent to their care and specific treatments had been assessed and decision making processes were documented.

People were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. The service worked with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

There were enough staff to support people, and staff were safely recruited. People were supported by staff who had the training, knowledge, skills and support to carry out their roles.

There had been recent changes throughout the staff team, but the management team were clear about the quality of care and service they aimed to provide. Staff were positive about the changes at the service.

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 21 March 2022) and there were breaches of regulation.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made, although there were further areas of improvement required. The service remains rated requires improvement. This is the second consecutive time the service has been rated requires improvement.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

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 remains requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

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 have identified a breach of regulations in relation to the safe management of medicines and identifying and mitigating environmental risks at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.