Lavender Oaks Care Home

Updated 22 July 2021

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 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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors, a specialist advisor whose background was in nursing, including end of life and palliative care, 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

Lavender Oaks Care Home 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 was in the process of appointing a new manager and obtaining registration with the Care Quality Commission. Once CQC registration is complete, they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the nominated individual (a nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider), the support manager and the acting manager at the time of our inspection. We also spoke with six staff members the chef, five people who used the service and four family members. When people were not able to speak to us about their care experiences, we observed how they interacted with staff in communal areas. We reviewed a range of records.This included seven people’s care records, people’s medicine records, accident and incident records, and quality assurance records. To reduce the amount of time we spent at the service we conducted part of our inspection remotely and asked the provider to send us more information following our visit.

After the inspection

We received feedback from one person’s relative. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 22 July 2021

About the service

Lavender Oaks Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 43 people at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 75 people within four suites in one purpose-built building.

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

People told us they felt safe and that, they were looked after by caring staff. Systems remained in place to protect people from abuse and staff had been trained in safeguarding adults and knew how to report concerns. Improvements had been made to people’s records. This meant there was more detailed information for staff to understand people’s risks and what staff needed to do to reduce these. Medicine records were accurate and showed people received their medicine when they needed it. The provider recorded and monitored accidents and incidents in order to identify trends and had systems in place to make sure lessons were learnt when things when wrong. The service was clean and staff followed government guidance around COVID-19 to help stop the risk of infection. There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs.

People’s care and support was assessed when they first started to use the service. People’s care was regularly reviewed and the provider was making changes to make sure staff knew exactly how people wanted to be supported based on their individual needs during their time at the service and when they required end of life care. Staff helped people maintain relationships and had adapted activities during the pandemic to reduce the feeling of isolation. Systems were in place to record and monitor complaints received.

Improvements had been made to the way the provider monitored the quality of care people received at the service. Staff had received additional support and learning and new initiatives had been introduced to help keep people safe. People told us the manager listened to them and made changes according to their preferences.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 20 May 2020) and there was one breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. We had also received concerns about end of life care and we wanted to inspect and examine risks in this area. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, responsive and well-led.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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 Lavender Oaks Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.