Heron View Care Home

Updated 25 April 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

Two inspectors and an Expert by Experience carried out this 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.

Service and service type

Heron View Care Home 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. Heron View Care Home is a care home with 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 not a registered manager in post. However, a new home manager was appointed in December 2022, who had submitted their registered manager application to CQC.

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 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

We spoke with 4 people using the service, 2 relatives and one healthcare professional. We asked them for their feedback about the service. We observed interactions between people and staff to understand people’s experiences. We also spoke with the home manager, the clinical operations manager, 2 registered nurses and 1 support worker. We reviewed a range of records. This included 6 people's care records, medicines administration records (MARs), 3 staff recruitment files and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 25 April 2023

About the service

Heron View Care Home is a care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 35 people. The service provides support to people with mental health needs, neurocognitive conditions and acquired brain injury. At the time of our inspection there were 35 people using the service.

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

People were safe at the service. Staff knew how to safeguard people from abuse and how to report safeguarding concerns to the appropriate agencies. Staff were provided appropriate training to help them reduce safety risks to people. They demonstrated good understanding of risks to people’s safety and wellbeing and the action they should take to help keep people safe.

The service was clean and hygienic. Staff followed current infection control and hygiene practice to reduce the risk of infection. People’s relatives and friends were free to visit without any unnecessary restrictions.

Regular health and safety checks of the premises and equipment were undertaken to make sure these were safe. Medicines were managed safely. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed.

There were enough staff to support people and meet their needs. The provider carried out recruitment and criminal records checks to make sure staff were suitable to support people. Staff were well supported by managers and encouraged to improve their working practice when required.

People were satisfied with the care and support they received from staff. People’s views were sought about how the service could improve and the provider acted on these.

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.

There was no registered manager in post at the time of this inspection. However, a new home manager had been appointed for the service. The home manager was suitably experienced, understood how people’s needs should be met and had good oversight of the service.

There were systems in place to monitor and review the safety and quality of the service. Accidents and incidents were fully investigated and learning from these was shared with staff to help them improve the quality and safety of the support provided.

The provider worked proactively with healthcare professionals involved in people’s care and acted on their recommendations to deliver care and support that met people’s needs.

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 good (published 29 July 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the safety and quality of the care and support provided to people. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe 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 remained good, based on the findings of this inspection. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from the concerns we received.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.