25 April 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Frenchay House is a care home providing accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care. The service provides support to older people, including those who are living with dementia. Up to 30 people can live at Frenchay House. At the time of our inspection there were 28 people using the service.
Frenchay House is located in a large, listed building in a village location. There are communal areas, and some people live in flats with individual lounges and bathrooms.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We highlighted some gaps in medicines records to the provider. Additional information and assurances were given after the inspection with actions taken to meet all standards. Staff were trained to support people with medicines in a way that met their needs.
Governance processes were effective overall, although the most recent medicine audit had not highlighted all of the shortfalls we identified during the inspection. These were identified at the subsequent medicines audit and actions taken as necessary. Audits supported the service to identify, monitor and address performance and risks.
People we spoke with, and their relatives all told us they felt safe living at Frenchay House. People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and staff team. We observed others looking comfortable and relaxed around staff.
Staff received training and knew what they should do to safeguard people from abuse or harm. Specific risks to people were assessed before admission, monitored and reviewed regularly. Staff knew about risks for different individuals.
Staff managed the safety of the living environment and equipment in it through regular checks. Fire safety was monitored, and actions taken as required to manage risks.
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.
There were enough appropriately skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. This was regularly reviewed. Staff were recruited safely by the provider, and there was a consistent staff team. The team worked with other health and social care services to promote good outcomes for people and keep them safe.
Staff were motivated and committed to providing high quality care to people and ensuring their needs continued to be met. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and felt well supported by the management team and their colleagues.
The management team were experienced and played an active role in the service. Staff told us managers were visible and approachable. There was a culture of continuous improvement and staff at all levels were encouraged to follow interests and take up training and new opportunities.
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 02 August 2017).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and the time since our last inspection. We only reviewed the safe and well led key questions at this inspection. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
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 overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Frenchay House 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.