Croft House

Updated 22 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

Croft House 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. Croft House 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 looked at the information we had received from and about the service.

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 (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

During the inspection we spoke with 13 people who lived at the home and 9 members of staff. The registered manager and provider representatives were available to support the inspection. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We looked at a variety of records which related to people’s individual care and the running of the home. These included 5 care and support plans, 2 staff recruitment files, a sample of health and safety records, quality audits and action plans.

Updated 22 March 2023

About the service

Croft House is a care home which is registered to provide accommodation and personal care to up to 67 people.

The building was divided into 4 separate areas. Two areas cared for older people with personal care needs and 2 areas provided care to people living with dementia.

At the time of our inspection there were 61 people living at the home.

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

People did not always receive proactive support and reassurance from staff. We have recommended that the provider makes practical training in good dementia care available to all staff.

There were sufficient staff to support people, but staff were not always deployed effectively. The provider had identified this issue and was looking at how improvements could be made.

People felt safe at the home and with the staff who cared for them. People looked relaxed with staff when they supported them.

People received their medicines safely from senior staff who had received training and been deemed competent to carry out the task.

People felt well cared for and told us staff were friendly. People said they could choose what they did each day and staff respected their wishes.

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.

Staff had good relationships with local professionals and worked together to ensure people’s needs were met.

There were strong links with local people which enabled people to stay connected to their community.

People benefitted from a registered manager and provider who had effective systems to monitor quality and drive improvements.

The registered manager and management team were very committed to providing good quality care and support to people. They were open and responsive to issues raised and complaints, and used them to drive improvements to the care people received.

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 1 November 2018.)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We identified concerns in relation to a high number of abuse notifications relating to incidents between people who lived at the home. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.

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 not changed from Good based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make some improvements. Please see the effective section of this full report.

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