Augustus Court

Augustus Court is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 58 people. The service provides support to adults, some of whom may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 57 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

Risks to people were not always identified, assessed or mitigated. Safe infection control practices were not always followed in relation to the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleanliness. Care plans were not always up-to-date and reflective of people's needs. Quality assurance processes had identified some but not all of the issues we found at inspection. However, the provider acted promptly in response to issues we raised and brought in additional senior staff to support the new manager and arranged further training, support and guidance for staff.

There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People’s privacy and dignity was respected. People were provided with a variety of food and drinks. People were generally happy with the care they received and spoke positively about the staff who supported them. Staff knew people well and were kind and caring. Activities were provided and people were supported to keep in touch with family and friends. People had access to healthcare services.

The home was well decorated and comfortably furnished, although improvements were needed to make the environment more dementia friendly. The provider had a refurbishment plan in place to address these issues. Staff received the training and support they required to meet people’s needs. Staff were recruited safely, with appropriate checks carried out.

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.

The manager started in post on the first day of our inspection. They were responsive and proactive in addressing issues we raised. Staff said they had already noticed an improvement in communication since the manager started.

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

Rating at last inspection

This provider was registered with us on 31 August 2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good, published on 6 September 2018.

Why we inspected

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

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

Enforcement [and Recommendations]

We have identified breaches in relation to regulations 12 and 17.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow Up

We will request an action plan from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.