Albury Care Homes Limited

Updated 21 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

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Albury Care Homes Limited (Albury Care 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. Albury Care Home is a care home without 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 and a manager who managed the home on a day-to-day basis delegated by the registered manager.

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 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 7 people who used the service and 5 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We observed the interactions between people and staff. We spoke with 7 members of staff including the manager, administration staff, care staff, maintenance and the cook. We received feedback from a healthcare professional working with the home.

We reviewed a range of records. This included multiple people's medicines records and elements of care documentation for 6 people. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and agency staff check. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring records, risk management records, staff training and meeting records as well as policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 21 March 2023

About the service

Albury Care Homes Limited (Albury Care Home) is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 33 people. The home provides support to older people with physical and health related support needs, some of whom live with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people using the service.

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

People were protected from abuse, neglect and avoidable harm and received care which empowered them to keep well and to live the life they wanted. Staff knew people, their individual risks and capabilities and provided safe support. People had clear care plans in place.

Staff knew how to support people safely with their medicines. The provider ensured lessons were learnt from any adverse events in the service and from people’s, their representatives and staff feedback. The management team followed up on those lessons learnt which had improved the home and people’s experience.

New staff were recruited safely and there was enough staff to support people timely. Staff adhered to good infection prevention and control.

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.

The provider reviewed their management structures and ensured there was good, hands on leadership available on a day-to-day basis in the home. The systems and processes of quality and safety monitoring were improved, and additional support of a care consultant was sought by the management. Staff completed regular checks and audits, worked well with other health and social care partners and took action to improve when needed.

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 02 December 2020).

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

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 27 October 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve medicines management and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-Led which contain those requirements.

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 changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Albury Care Homes Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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