Archived: Bankfield Care Home

Updated 20 March 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service including statutory notifications. We contacted relevant agencies such as the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) in June 2017. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service. Because the form was completed before the last inspection we have not considered the information as part of this inspection.

This inspection took place on 26 January 2018 and was unannounced. Two adult social care inspectors and an expert-by-experience carried out the inspection. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

During the visit we looked around the service and observed how people were being care for. We spoke with seven people who used the service, two visiting relatives, five members of staff and the manager. We spent time looking at documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the home. We reviewed three people’s care plans.

Updated 20 March 2018

This inspection took place on 26 January 2018 and was unannounced. It is the fourth inspection where we have rated the service as requires improvement. At the last inspection in June 2017 we found the provider was in breach of four regulations which related to consent to care, safe care and treatment, person centred care and good governance. At this inspection we found they were still in breach of the regulation that related to governance. We found they had improved person centred care although we found there were still issues around bathing and showering. They had improved how they assessed risk to people and how they managed medicines. We found they were in breach of an additional regulation; supporting staff.

Bankfield Care Home is registered to provide care for a maximum of 37 people. The manager told us 11 people were using the service when we inspected. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At the time of the inspection the service did not have a registered manager although a manager was due to commence three days after the inspection. The manager who was covering the service on a temporary basis told us they would be applying to register as the manager of Bankfield Care Home. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff we spoke with understood safeguarding procedures and were confident people were safe. There were enough staff during the day but staffing arrangements on a night meant sometimes people had to wait for care. The provider took action and increased staffing on a night soon after the inspection. We noted some environmental issues around the service which could compromise people’s safety; some of these issues were being addressed by the provider, such as a broken passenger lift. Other issues such as a lack of personal protective equipment for staff had not been picked up by the provider.

People felt well cared for and told us staff were caring. People enjoyed the meals and received support to make sure their health needs were met. Systems for making sure people received support to make decisions about their care where appropriate and the care planning process had improved. The range of activities had been limited because of restricted access to communal and outdoor facilities.

Staff received training which helped them understand how to do their job well but there was a lack of support and supervision.

The provider had continued to develop the service but some of their systems and processes were not effective. For example, we found some people did not have access to suitable dining and bathing or showering facilities. These issues had not been picked up by the provider even though people had not accessed these facilities since the lift had broken at the beginning of January 2018. The provider was responsive when we brought the matters to their attention.

We found two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) regulations 2014: Staff did not receive appropriate support and supervision: The provider’s systems and processes did not enable them to assess, monitor and improve the service.