The Chase Rest Home

Updated 30 June 2023

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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

The Chase Rest 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. The Chase Rest 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 manager had been in post for 10 months and had submitted an application to register. We are currently assessing this application.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We spoke to the local authority market support team. We reviewed information we have received about the service and the manager and provider’s response to these. 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

We spoke with 6 staff including the manager, deputy manager and care staff. We spoke with 10 people who live at The Chase Rest Home and observed care and support for people who were unable to talk to us. We looked at records relating to care provision and the day to day running of the service. This included 3 people’s care plans in full and a further 3 people’s to look at specific areas in relation to their health and care needs. We asked the provider to send us further information following the inspection. We spoke to a visitor and received feedback from 2 relatives and a health professional following the inspection.

Updated 30 June 2023

About the service

The Chase Rest Home is a care home that accommodates up to 24 people. The service supports a wide range of people including those living with dementia and other mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were 19 people living at the service.

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

Since the last inspection the manager had worked hard to make improvements. At the last inspection the manager had only worked at the service for a week. Following the inspection, the manager spent time getting to know people to enable them to be able to develop care plans and documentation. Initially the manager focussed on the areas of high risk, they are aware that further work is required to meet all regulations but have done a lot of positive work to improve. Feedback from people, relatives and staff was positive and people told us they liked living at The Chase Care Home.

Although it was apparent a number of areas had improved, further work was still required to embed changes and develop the service to ensure all regulations were met.

The provider had not maintained appropriate oversight and governance to ensure all areas of the day to day running of the home and health and safety was being monitored effectively. Some issues found at the last inspection had not been addressed. Governance needed to be improved to ensure maintenance was identified and carried out in a timely manner.

Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures needed to be improved, we observed staff not using Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or handwashing effectively to prevent the risk of infection. Cleaning schedules were not being consistently completed and some areas of the home required further cleaning.

Recruitment records were not robust. Further information was required to ensure that references were accurate and dates of previous employment were correct. Information about staff’s working restrictions needed to be explored and recorded.

A lot of work had been completed to improve documentation. However, care plans and risk assessments needed further improvements to ensure information about people’s health needs were person centred and up to date.

Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures. Accidents and incidents were reported appropriately, and documentation was completed to ensure a robust process was in place following any accidents or incidents.

New staff completed an induction and were supported during their probationary period. Staff received training and support. Staff meetings had been carried out and staff had one to one and group supervision.

People were involved in choices and decisions and supported to be as independent as possible. 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 nutritional needs were assessed and managed. Referrals were made to other agencies to support people’s mental and physical health. The manager and staff worked with health professionals to ensure people received the support they needed.

Staff were kind and caring. Activities were provided for people and they were supported to spend their time how they chose.

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 10 November 2022). CQC served a Warning Notice to the provider due to the lack of good governance.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found that although improvements had been made in some areas, the provider remained in breach of regulation.

Why we inspected

We undertook this comprehensive inspection to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met. The overall rating for the service has not changed following this inspection and remains requires improvement.

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.

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

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 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.