17 September 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Penkett Lodge is a care home that provides accommodation for up to 27 people who need help with their personal care. At the time of the inspection 14 people lived in the home. Some people living in the home, lived with dementia.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe and were treated well. People and relatives were very positive about the staff and manager. They told us they were happy with the care provided.
Risks to people were assessed and their safety was monitored. Improvements made to the environment offered safer living facilities that had been improved and maintained especially within the gardens and grounds of the service.
People’s safety was monitored and records showed ongoing support to keep people safe and comfortable. People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about the different types of abuse and followed guidance in line with the providers and the local authority safeguarding procedures.
Staff followed safe infection, prevention and control (IPC) practices. They had continual access to the required personal protective equipment (PPE) used to prevent infections and keep people safe.
Safe recruitment processes were followed to assess the suitability of staff to work at the service. Staff had received regular training to ensure they were able to meet the needs of the people they supported.
Medicines were safely managed by staff; they received up to date training and had the relevant skills to support people with their medicines.
The providers systems and processes for monitoring and improving the service had shown a lot of work and investment to improve records, management of health and safety, recruitment, training and supporting staff and improving the environment. Further development was needed to continue the refurbishment and decoration of the home, continue the development of all care records and training records for staff.
Within the context of the Covid-19 infection risk, 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.
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 inadequate published December 2019 and there were multiple breaches 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. This service has been in special measures since November 2019. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in special measures. The evidence that inspectors could review was limited as many of the improvements were recently made and improvements needed to be embedded and sustained over a longer period of time to achieve a rating of good.
Why we inspected
A decision was made for us to inspect, examine and follow up what improvements had been made since the last inspection in November 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we undertook a focused inspection to only review the key questions of Safe and Well-led. 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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
Our report is only based on the findings in those areas reviewed at this inspection. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for the Effective, Caring and Responsive key questions were not looked at on this occasion. Ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
Follow up
We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.