Archived: Gracewell of Church Crookham

Updated 23 July 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. We did this to understand the service’s preparations to prevent or manage an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we could share with other services.

Inspection team

The team comprised two inspectors and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

Gracewell of Church Crookham is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with CQC. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

There were two companies registered as providers for Gracewell of Church Crookham: Gracewell Healthcare Limited and Gracewell Healthcare 3 Limited. Both legal entities are equally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We announced this inspection on the morning of our visit in order to check the COVID-19 status of the home.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager and the provider’s quality business partner. We observed how staff supported people in the shared areas of the home.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. We looked at softcopy records we received. We looked at all the evidence gathered in the light of CQC’s published characteristics of ratings in order to make our judgements.

Updated 23 July 2021

About the service

Gracewell of Church Crookham is a residential care home which provided nursing and personal care for 33 people at the time of this inspection. The service can support up to 60 older people and younger adults who may have a physical disability, sensory impairment or be living with dementia.

The home was organised in four household units across two floors. Each unit had shared areas including a dining area. Shared areas included a cinema, bistro style café and an enclosed garden.

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

People and their relatives all spoke highly of the home and the service they received. Relatives said Gracewell of Church Crookham was “the best place” for their loved one, and they felt “lucky” their loved one had a place there.

People were safe and protected from avoidable harm and abuse. The provider supported people to keep themselves and their belongings safe and secure. The provider had processes to manage people’s medicines safely, and had put in a variety of infection control measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Infection control measures were described as exemplary and exceptional by a healthcare professional and a relative.

People had a service which was effective and led to good outcomes for people. Feedback from people and their relatives about the effectiveness of the service was consistently good. There was particularly good feedback about the dining experience. 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 had a service that was consistently well managed and well-led. The leadership and culture promoted high-quality, person-centred care. Staff morale was noticeably positive after an exceptional period of stress in the adult social care sector, and there was an up-beat atmosphere in the home.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 17 March 2020).

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had made sustained improvements since our last inspection. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective and well-led which we previously rated requires improvement.

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.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used to calculate the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Gracewell of Church Crookham on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.