The Lodge at Burcot Grange

Updated 25 March 2022

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

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and a specialist advisor in nursing.

Service and service type

The Lodge at Burcot Grange 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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 five people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 18 members of staff including the registered manager, two of the provider’s representatives, senior staff, care workers, an activities staff member, a member of catering staff, a host, a housekeeper and a member of maintenance staff. We spent time seeing how people were cared for. 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 reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and multiple medication records. We also checked three staff recruitment files. We looked at records relating to the management of the service and the safety and quality of people’s care. These included audits and checks undertaken by the registered manager and provider’s representatives, including in relation to accidents and incidents. We saw the compliments received by the service, and how staff communicated with relatives and between teams.

After the inspection

We reviewed a range of policies and procedures relating to people’s safety and infection control and communication. We also reviewed additional information the registered manager sent to us showing how people enjoyed spending their time and surveys of people’s and relative’s views on the care provided.

Updated 25 March 2022

About the service

The Lodge at Burcot Grange is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 53 people who may be older or younger adults and who may live with dementia, physical disability or sensory impairment at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 54 people.

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

People and those closest to them consistently told us living at The Lodge at Burcot Grange had enriched people’s lives because of the way the home was run. The approach taken by staff placed people at the centre of the way their care was developed and refined as their needs changed. This promoted people’s health and well-being and enabled people to keep in touch with those that were important to them. In addition, people were provided with opportunities to reconnect with their past and enjoy spontaneous moments of happiness, so they led fulfilled lives.

The registered manager worked with people, relatives, other health and social care professionals and staff so people had seamless care and achieved good outcomes. This had led to people experiencing improved mental health, pain reduction, and physical health.

The provider and registered manager worked together to reflect on the care provided to people. This had led to significant improvements in people’s safety, including a major reduction in the falls people experienced.

There was a consistently high level of praise from people and their relatives about the skilled ways people were supported by the whole staff team. People were encouraged to explore what support they wanted, and staff listened to how people wanted their care to be provided.

Relatives were positive about the inclusive way their family member’s needs were met and how staff worked with them to anticipate people’s changing needs and drive through improvements in people’s well-being and comfort.

Staff had received many compliments for the care they had provided to people at the end of their lives.

People were promptly supported by staff when they wanted assistance. Staff had a clear understanding of people’s individual risks and promoted people’s rights and independence when caring for them. People were supported to have the medicines they needed to remain well, and action was taken to reduce the risk of infections.

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.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good, (published 30 April 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of people’s safety risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, responsive 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.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Lodge at Burcot Grange 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.