Apex Care Centre

Updated 20 August 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

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 team consisted of two inspectors. One inspector carried out a site visit and a second inspector reviewed information sent from the service.

Apex care centre is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, senior care workers, care workers, kitchen staff and the housekeeper.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We undertook further calls to three staff and three relatives, and we continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 20 August 2021

About the service

Apex Care Centre is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 28 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 40 people.

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

The service had processes in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. The risks to their individual safety had been assessed and measures were in place to reduce risk. However, people newly admitted to the service did not always come with sufficient information for staff to support them in a safe person-centred way.

Staff told us and records showed there were not always enough staff to support people.

People’s medicines were not always managed safely.

Quality monitoring processes were in place, but some aspects required improvement in relation to medicines and oversight of falls.

The service was clean and there were good infection prevention and control measures in place to reduce the risk to people.

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’s care was provided in a person-centred way and there was an open and caring culture at the service. Relatives had confidence in the staff to support their family member.

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 5 December 2020).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing levels, and lack of timely personal care. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from good to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement in management of staffing levels and quality assurance processes.

The provider had already put measures in place to make improvements to the areas we highlighted.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Apex care centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.