Rowan House

Updated 8 April 2021

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

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

Rowan House 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 CQC. The registered manager was also the provider. This means one person is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection to check the COVID-19 status of the home, and to check we would be able to comply with social distancing and other pandemic requirements during the visit.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included notifications of events providers are required to tell us about, and information from members of the public about their experience of the service.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the provider who was also the registered manager, the home manager and two members of staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. A variety of records relating to staff recruitment, the management of the service, and monitoring and audits, were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the manager to validate evidence found. We looked at records sent to us by the home manager.

Updated 8 April 2021

About the service

Rowan House is a residential care home providing personal care for up to 16 people aged 65 and over who could be living with dementia or have other mental health needs. At the time of this inspection there were 13 people living in Rowan House. The home accommodated people on two floors in an adapted residential building.

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

People were happy living at Rowan House. They told us they were well looked after, got on well with the staff, the food was good, and they had no complaints.

We found the provider ensured people were supported safely. There were sufficient numbers of suitable, motivated staff. Processes and procedures were in place to store and administer medicines safely. We were assured infection prevention and control measures were in place to protect people against the risk of COVID-19 and other infections.

The service was well led. The staff team felt supported by the provider and manager. People who used the service and staff could contribute their views on how the service was managed. The manager had processes in place to monitor and improve the quality of service people received.

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 27 November 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating, and in part due to concerns we received about medicines and staffing. As a result 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 remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm or poor care. Please see the safe and well-led sections of the 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 read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Rowan House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.