24 August 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Highborder Lodge is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 40 people. The service provides support to older people and people living with Dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 32 people using the service.
The service is also registered to provide care and support to people living in their own homes. However, at the time of our inspection, this service was not being provided. Everyone living at Highborder Lodge had access to en-suite facilities, communal living and dining spaces and garden.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were not always protected from avoidable harm. People’s care plans and associated records were not always current, accurate and did not provide staff with the correct information they required to safely meet people’s needs.
People did not always receive care and support which fully respected their wishes. Immediate action was taken by the management to address these concerns.
Monitoring systems were not always effective as the records supporting the management of the service were not always reliable. These systems had not always identified or addressed concerns found during our inspection, including concerns in relation to people’s care records, cleanliness of the home, people’s person centred care and medicine management.
People’s medicines were not always stored in accordance with manufacturers guidance and provider’s policies. The management took immediate action to address this concern.
People told us they felt safe. They told us the staff were tolerant, patient and friendly. Although there had been challenges in recruiting staff, there were enough staff to ensure people’s care needs were met.
There were a range of activities and events for people to enjoy. However, some people who were not mobile, or were living with dementia were not always supported to access or enjoy these activities. Additionally, while we observed there were enough staff to meet people’s needs, staff did not always take the opportunity to engage with people and promote their wellbeing.
The provider, registered manager and staff had learnt from incidents and used this to inform their actions.
People and their relatives felt the registered manager was approachable. The registered manager had sought feedback from healthcare professional which was positive.
Staff told us they felt supported and enjoyed working at Highborder Lodge. Staff had received training to meet people’s needs.
We were assured the service were working in accordance with current government COVID-19 guidance
Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. Where people were living under Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards; staff understood the support they required.
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 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 4 December 2017).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This included information of concern about people’s care and support.
As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, responsive and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Highborder Lodge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.