Red Oak Care Home

Updated 10 February 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 an inspection manager on the first day and an inspector on the second and third day.

Service and service type

Red Oak Care Home 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 14 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager was available to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives shared their views of the service. We spoke with six members of staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager. During the inspection we reviewed multiple medicine administration records, medicines stocks and storage and observed medicines administration. We looked at four records linked to people’s care. We reviewed two staff files in relation to recruitment and supervisions and looked at records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to communicate with the deputy manager and registered manager to corroborate information gathered during the inspection.

Updated 10 February 2022

About the service

Red Oak Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 13 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 17 people.

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

People could not be assured all equipment was suitable for their needs. Audits did not always drive improvement.

People told us they felt safe and they were supported by staff who helped them quickly if they needed this. Staff gave conflicting information regarding the staffing arrangements. We have made a recommendation about the staffing at the home.

Checks were completed to help ensure prospective staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Risk assessments were carried out to help minimise the risk of avoidable harm and staff knew the help and support people needed. Medicines were managed safely.

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 cared for in a clean and homely environment by staff who were caring, competent and knowledgeable about people’s needs.

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 this service was good (published 10 February 2021).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of a specific incident. Following which a person using the service was injured. This incident is subject to a criminal investigation. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. The information CQC received about the incident indicated concerns about the management of falls from height. This inspection examined those risks. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

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.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

The provider took action to minimise the risk to people who used the service. We revisited the service and saw actions had been completed.

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

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 safety and security of some equipment at the home. Audits did not always drive improvement.

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 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.