The Garden House

Updated 3 August 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

This inspection was undertaken by 3 inspectors, a specialist advisor who was a nurse 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

The Garden House 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 Garden House 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

This inspection was unannounced. We visited the location on the 12 June 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 11 May 2023 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 14 staff including the registered manager. We spoke with 14 people and 5 relatives. We also reviewed various documents including 9 care plans and supporting information and 2 staff files. We reviewed quality assurance audits and other records relating to the management of the service.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 3 August 2023

About the service

The Garden House is a residential care home providing personal care and nursing care to up to 102 people. At the time of our inspection there were 94 people using the service.

The Garden house is made up of 3 nursing units called; Cedars, Maples and Oaks. The residential unit called Sundials specialises in providing care to people living with dementia.

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

People’s care plans contained important information relating to their mobility and support.

People were supported by enough staff. Staff felt supported and said it was a nice place to work. Staff received training and supervisions. The registered manager undertook daily walk arounds, held resident and relative meetings and open coffee mornings. These were an opportunity to discuss and feedback any areas which might need to be improved on.

People were supported to access health care professionals when required. The GP visited weekly and other referrals were made to professionals when required. Incidents and accidents were reported and monitored for any trends and themes. However, we found 1 incident which needed to be reported to the local safeguarding team. The registered manager took action to report this concern to the local safeguarding team and they confirmed following our inspection this concern was closed.

People were supported by staff who had received training in mental capacity and safeguarding adults. People felt safe and staff supported people to make choices about their care and support.

The service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals and also with a local school. Used equipment such as walking frames were sent to countries where others could benefit from them.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Good (published 03 May 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by the outcome of monitoring activity where we identified the service needed an 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.

The inspection was also prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of medicines, staffing and people not receiving adequate care and support.

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 not changed from Good.

Follow up

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

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