Forest Court Nursing Home

Updated 17 March 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

Three inspectors carried out the inspection with the support of a registered 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

Forest Court Nursing 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. Forest court Nursing Home 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.

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 6 relatives who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the registered manager, service manager, deputy clinical leads, maintenance manager, registered nurses, family liaison support and a health care professional.

We reviewed a range of records. These included 6 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 7 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 reviewed.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from 4 relatives and 14 staff members. We also received feedback from 4 health and care professionals.

Updated 17 March 2023

About the service

Forest Court Nursing Home is a nursing home that also provides short term care for up to 4 weeks to promote the delivery of the Discharge to Assess process. This provides people who have recovered from a hospital stay, no longer needing an acute bed with appropriate care and assessment to enable them to return home or find suitable ongoing care. A number of beds were also provided to people too unwell to be cared for at home but not unwell enough for hospital admission, ‘step up’ beds and was providing nursing and personal care to 68 people at the time of our inspection. The service can support up to 80 people.

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

People enjoyed living at the service and felt safe. However, improvements were required in some areas. Relevant recruitment checks were conducted before staff started working at the service to make sure they were of good character and had the necessary skills. However, we did find that more robust procedures for checking full employment histories were required.

Medicines administration records (MAR) confirmed people had received their medicines as prescribed. However, we found some concerns in relation to recording when prescribed creams had been applied. The service has since put in measures to improve medicines.

The risks to people were minimized through risk assessments. However, some improvements would benefit people living with diabetes. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse. There were enough staff to keep people safe. Staff knew people well and treated people with kindness and compassion. The home was clean, and measures were in place for infection prevention and control

There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. Staff felt supported by management and enjoyed working at the service. The provider had an open and honest approach to care delivery and reported accidents and incidents and informed those involved as necessary. However, improvements were required in sending in notifications.

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.

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 07 January 2022). 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 improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. 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.

Follow up

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