Carlisle Dementia Centre - Parkfield

Updated 8 June 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 Care Act 2014.

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Carlisle Dementia Centre - Parkfield is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post, but they had resigned. The new manager was in the process of applying to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service. We spoke with four relatives via telephone. We spoke with 14 members of staff. This included, the manager, the deputy manager, the compliance manager, two nurses, a cook and kitchen assistant, a domestic, the administrator, the activity coordinator and members of care staff.

We spoke with an advocate, two members of the care homes support team and a GP.

We observed the care and support provided to people in communal areas across different parts of the day, including mealtimes and during activities.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care and medicines records and three staff files in relation to recruitment. We also reviewed records related to the management of the service, which included incident reports, quality assurance checks, minutes of meetings, policies and procedures and a range of health and safety records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 8 June 2022

About the service

Carlisle Dementia Centre – Parkfield is a residential care home providing personal care and nursing for up to 44 people, some of whom were living with dementia or a mental health related condition. At the time of the inspection, there were 28 people living at the service.

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

Staff were thoughtful and caring. Positive interactions took place between people and the staff team.

Medicines were managed in a safe manner.

Care plans now fully reflected people’s care needs and health conditions.

People and their relatives said they were involved in planning their care and were encouraged to provide feedback regarding the service.

There were enough safely recruited staff available to meet people's needs. Staff felt supported and morale had improved.

The service was light and welcoming. Good infection control procedures were now in place and the service was clean and tidy. The provider worked in line with current guidelines to support safe visiting.

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 supported with their dietary needs and had enough to eat and drink. People were referred to healthcare professionals when necessary.

People, relatives, staff and healthcare professionals were positive about the new manager and commented on the positive changes the manager had introduced.

The manager and provider monitored the quality and safety of the service. There was an improved programme of checks in place. Many improvements had been made, including enhancing garden areas for people to enjoy with further work planned.

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 14 January 2022) and there were breaches of regulations.

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 focussed inspection of this service on 22 November 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. We issued a warning notice. 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 and good governance.

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.

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 has changed from requires improvement 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 Carlisle Dementia Centre - Parkfield on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.