Archived: Meadow Court

Updated 8 September 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions.

This was a focussed inspection undertaken to check that the provider had made improvements to meet legal requirements after our inspection on 19 and 20 March 2015. We inspected the service against one of the five questions we ask about services: is the service safe? This is because there were not sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs.

This inspection took place on Sunday, 14 August 2016 and was unannounced. It was undertaken by one adult social care inspector.

Before our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service and the provider such as the action plan the provider submitted setting out how they would become compliant with the breach identified at the previous inspection. During the inspection we spoke with four people, two relatives, three care workers, one nurse and the deputy manager. We also observed people’s interaction with staff and reviewed two care files, staff training records, medicine administration records, staff rota and the provider's policies and procedures.

Updated 8 September 2016

At the last inspection on 19 and 20 March 2015 we found a breach of regulation and some areas which required improvement. Following the inspection the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the staffing level available to provide care and support to people using the service.

We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had met legal requirements and to confirm that they had followed their action plan and made improvements to the service. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Meadow Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Meadow Court is a care home with nursing divided in to five separate units known as clusters. The service is registered to accommodate a maximum of 70 people. At the time of the inspection there were 29 people using the service and one person was in hospital.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People using the service and relatives told us there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. People told us staff were kind and responded promptly to their needs when they needed support. We observed staff were available to assist people with their meals and provide people with the care they needed. Staff told us that the staffing levels were sufficient at the home and reflected the needs of people. People and relatives were concerned about the changes being implemented in the deployment of staff. We recommended that the registered manager refers to best practices of management of change.

We noted that the service had various policies and procedures including adult safeguarding and whistle blowing. People’s care files also showed that care plans and risk assessments were regularly reviewed. Staff were aware of the provider's policies and had received training in areas such as moving and handling, infection control and medicine administration. We also noted that there was a good staff recruitment process in place. This showed that people were supported by staff who were appropriately checked and were suitable to provide safe care.

People told us staff administered their medicines. We found that medicines were administered and recorded by staff as prescribed by healthcare professionals. We also noted that all parts of the premises were clean and free from unpleasant odours. This ensured that any possible incidents of infections were controlled appropriately by staff.