Normanton Lodge

Updated 25 February 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 one inspector and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

Normanton Lodge 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. Normanton Lodge 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.

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. 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 four people who used the service and five relatives, on the telephone, about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager and the deputy manager. We reviewed a range of records this included four care plans and several medicine records. We viewed four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We looked at a variety of governance records relating to the management of the home which included policies and procedures. We sought feedback from external health and social care professionals who have regular contact with the service.

Updated 25 February 2023

About the service

Normanton Lodge is a residential care home providing personal care for older people, some of whom were living with dementia. Normanton Lodge is registered to accommodate 26 people, at the time of the inspection 17 people lived at the service.

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

People told us they felt safe living at Normanton Lodge. The registered manager and staff knew how to protect people from the risk of harm or abuse. There were enough staff available with the appropriate skills to meet people's needs.

Staff were recruited safely however, some documentation was missing from staff recruitment files, this was acted upon straight away by the registered manager and the missing documentation produced. The registered manager was aware that recruitment files needed to be more robust and was working to embed this in practice.

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. People received their medicines as prescribed and systems were in place to receive, store and manage medicines safely. Staff followed infection control guidance and had access to personal protective equipment (PPE).

The registered manager and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. Staff liaised with health and social care professionals to ensure people's health and care needs were met. There were several quality assurance processes in place and the registered manager had good oversight of the quality of the care provided to people. People and their relatives were given the opportunity to give feedback on the care received, this was used to drive improvement in the service.

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 19 January 2019).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels, management oversight, risks to people not being managed and infection control. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. 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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Normanton Lodge 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.