Updated 30 December 2024
Date of assessment: 14 to 29 January 2025. Heaton House Care Home is a residential care home, registered to support up to 21 older people, including those living with dementia. The assessment included 3 site visits, with additional information and evidence reviewed remotely. We have rated this service requires improvement. The assessment was completed to check if improvements had been made following our previous assessment in September 2024, where we identified 4 breaches of legal regulations. At this assessment we found continued breaches of legal regulations relating to good governance. Medicines were not managed safely. Governance processes had not identified all issues we identified, audits required adapting to ensure they were fully effective, and record keeping was not always contemporaneous or accurate. The provider was previously in breach of legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment, premises and equipment and staffing. Improvements were found at this assessment and the provider was no longer in breach of these regulations. As issues with medicines were largely related to record keeping, they now fall under good governance, rather than safe care and treatment. Risks relating to the environment had been adequately assessed and mitigated. Staff received sufficient training, support and supervision, to ensure they could carry out their roles safely and effectively. Improvements had been made with activity provision, seeking people’s views and involving them in their care. The provider was also now formally assessing how many staff were needed to meet people’s needs safely, which had resulted in an increase in staffing levels. We received positive feedback about the current home manager and the work they had done to make improvements. In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/ or appeals have been concluded.