Kingston Court Care Home

Updated 1 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

The inspection was undertaken by 2 inspectors 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

Kingston Court is a 'care home.' People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. Kingston Court 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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service including notifications about events. We sought feedback from the local authority, care professionals 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. 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 3 people who used the service and 9 relatives about their experience of the care provided. 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 spoke with 7 members of staff across a range of roles including managers, nurses, care workers, housekeeping, catering, administration, activities and maintenance staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 1 April 2023

About the service

Kingston Court Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 76 people. At the time of our inspection there were 74 people using the service.

The home is a modern, purpose-built care home over three floors. The accommodation on two floors is specifically for older people living with dementia-related conditions. Kingston Court is sited in the grounds of the Cumberland Infirmary and the home also provides several interim places for people leaving hospital.

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

The provider had made improvements to the way the home was managed. There were governance and quality assurance systems in place. Audits were up to date and identified any lessons learnt following incidents and accidents so that action could be taken to keep people safe. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs.

People told us they felt safe at Kingston Court Care Home. They were supported by staff who were trained and who understood their responsibilities to provide people with safe and effective care. Assessments were carried out to identify any potential risks to people and measures put in place to mitigate these. The home was clean and hygienic, and staff maintained effective systems of infection prevention and control. The provider exercised safe recruitment practices.

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.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively of the culture within the home. There was good and consistent communication between all members of staff, which helped ensure people received safe care with good outcomes. Staff felt well-supported by their managers and there were effective working relationships with other professionals involved in people's care.

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 11 March 2022) and there was a breach of regulations. 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 carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 14 December 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 changed from requires improvements to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kingston Court Care Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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