Archived: Queen Elizabeth Care Centre

Updated 19 January 2021

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.

The service had been identified for use by the Local Authority as a designated care setting in response to the Winter Plan for people discharged from hospital with a positive COVID-19 status. This targeted inspection was to ensure that the service was compliant with infection control and prevention measures.

This inspection took place on 14 January 2021 and was announced.

Updated 19 January 2021

Queen Elizabeth Care Centre is a care home providing nursing and residential care for up to 62 people, some of whom were living with dementia. There were 37 people living at Queen Elizabeth Care Centre at the time of the inspection.

The proposed area for the designated care setting was based on the second floor of the home for up to 22 people. There were no people living in the proposed area at the time of the inspection.

We found the following examples of good practice.

¿ The provider had plans in place to identify and allocate a dedicated team of staff to the designated area. There were separate facilities for staff, such as a staff changing room and toilet.

¿ The provider had considered the impact of the designated area to other parts of the home and how to reduce the risk of transmission. There was a separate lift allocated for the designated area which meant staff were able to avoid other residential parts of the home.

¿ The home was participating in regular testing for COVID-19 of all people living in the service, staff and essential visitors. This was done through a combination of both rapid tests that returned results at the home and tests that were sent away for analysis.

¿ The communal rooms in the designated area were large enough to enable people to follow social distancing guidelines. There was access to balconies in the communal area which allowed for good ventilation.

¿ There were several Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) stations available immediately outside and within the designated area.

¿ The service manager had worked together with local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to arrange infection prevention and control training for staff. This included agency staff who had been booked to work exclusively in the designated area.

We were assured that this service met good infection prevention and control guidelines as a designated care setting.