Ivy Bank Residential Care Home

Updated 16 December 2022

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.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by two inspectors 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

Ivy Bank Residential 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. Ivy Bank Residential 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.

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 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 three people and eight relatives about their experiences of the service. We spoke with six staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, head of care and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records, multiple medication records and two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including checks and audits were reviewed.

Updated 16 December 2022

About the service

Ivy Bank Residential Care Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 25 at the time of the inspection. The service provides support to older people and people living with dementia. The service can support up to 27.

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

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and comfortable at Ivy Bank Residential Care Home. There feedback included, “I’d recommend them 100% because they’re very caring” and “The best thing is that everyone is very caring and I feel comfortable with my relative being there.”

Risks to people had been identified and action had been taken to mitigate risks. However, detailed guidance had not been provided to staff about how to manage all risk. People’s medicines were generally well managed but some records about the number of medicines in stock were inaccurate. Checks and audits completed by the leadership team had not identified the shortfalls we found during our inspection.

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 were now able to see their visitors without restrictions but some people’s relatives were unaware they could visit people’s bedrooms.

There were enough staff on duty to meet people’s needs. Staff had been recruited safely and action had been taken when staff’s conduct did not meet the required standards. Staff knew how to identify and raise concerns about abuse. Staff felt supported and appreciated and were motivated.

Staff supported people to remain as independent as possible. Lessons had been learnt when things went wrong. People, relatives and visiting professionals had been asked for their views of the service.

The service was clean and staff followed national guidance to manage the risk of the spread of infection. Regular safety checks were completed on the building and equipment.

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 21 January 2020).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to restrictions on people receiving visitors. As a result, 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 found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe section of this 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 Ivy Bank Residential Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to effective checks and audits and detailed guidance around how to meet people’s needs at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

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