Allington Court Care Home

Updated 19 January 2024

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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

Allington Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Allington Court is a care home with 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the 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. 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 people and 7 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 5 members of staff including the registered manager, clinical lead, care workers and chef. We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people's care records and a variety of medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 19 January 2024

About the service

Allington Court Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 41 people. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 37 people using the service.

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

The management team completed risk assessments associated to people’s risks, however these were not always detailed and, in some cases, where risk were present staff were not aware of these.

The provider collated information in relation to incidents and accidents. Although the management team had recently analysed this and started to implement actions to try and mitigate the risk this had not been recognised sooner and other contributing factors was not considered to reduce the risk, such as people not having their walking aids present or having call bells to call for assistance.

People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. We recommend the provider reviews the use of the use of potential restrictive practices such as, call bells and bed sensors across the service to ensure these are appropriately used and regular reviews are completed

People received medicines when they needed it. The provider operated safe recruitment processes.

Managers completed quality audits which covered all aspects of care, and filtered through to an action plan, the management team had highlighted some of the areas we identified for improvements, However, some of these audits did not identify failings in the quality of care.

The management team had started taking actions on the information found at the inspection. In addition, they had put additional resources in the service to drive improvements.

Relatives felt their family members were being supported well and the management team were responsive.

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 8 April 2021)

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about safety relating to intelligence received about the home. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to management of risks for people and ensuring people are supported in the least restrictive way. Effective governance systems were not operated to identify where improvements were required. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow Up

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