25 November 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Aston Court Care Home is a nursing home providing accommodation (over two floors) and nursing and personal care to a maximum of 52 older adults. At the time of our inspection 37 people lived at the home some of whom experienced dementia.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
Staffing did not always meet people’s needs in a timely manner.
Governance systems were not entirely effective as they had not identified all issues found at this inspection.
The home was visibly clean but some improvements were required in relation to the maintenance of bathrooms.
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 treated with kindness and respect and their independence and privacy were promoted.
The management team welcomed our inspection and understood the need to be open and honest about things that required improvement.
For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 28/03/2020) and there was a breach of regulations. 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 the provider remained in breach of that regulation and we found a further breach.
We will describe what we will do about the repeat 'Requires Improvement' rating in the follow up section below.
Why we inspected
This inspection was to review our findings from our previous inspection.
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.
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 remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
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 monitor the service and will take further action if needed.
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 28/03/2020). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.
We have found a repeated breach in relation to good governance risk management at this inspection and one other breach relating to staffing. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report. 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 Aston Court Care 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.