Elizabeth Court

Updated 3 February 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

This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

Elizabeth Court is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Elizabeth 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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had been in post at the service for 5 weeks and it was their intention to submit an application to register.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke and spent time with 10 people who used the service and one visiting family member about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 7 members of staff including care and nursing staff, the manager and head of care. During the inspection we spoke with a member of the senior management team by telephone. We reviewed a range of records. This included people's care and medicines records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including monitoring and reviewing information. After the inspection we reviewed additional information sent through to us by the management team.

Updated 3 February 2023

About the service

Elizabeth Court is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 44 people. The service provides support to older people. At the time of our inspection there were 42 people using the service. Some of who live with dementia. Elizabeth Court accommodates people across two separate floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities.

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

Improvements were needed to the management of people’s medicines. Additional improvements were needed to the processes in place for the review, monitoring and oversight of records in use.

Sufficient staff were on duty to meet the needs of people. Systems were in place to safeguard people from harm and regular checks were carried out to ensure people’s living environment was safe. A system was in place to assess and plan for known risk to people.

A new manager had been appointed and had been in post for 5 weeks. An improvement plan was in place to make changes to the service. Work was underway to review and update procedures with the service. Staff worked with local health care professionals to meet people’s needs.

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 majority of policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Improvements had been made in the management of infection prevention and control measures since the last inspection.

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 14 March 2022) and there were 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 in some areas, however more improvements were needed and the service was still in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 28 January and 8 February 2022. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve person centred care and 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. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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 overall rating for the service has remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection. Although some improvements had been made since the last inspection, we found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements in relation to medicines management and oversight of the service. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to medicines management and oversight of the service. We have made a recommendation in relation to staff records. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.