George Potter House

Updated 23 January 2025

Date of Assessment: 23 January 2025. George Potter House is a care home providing nursing and personal care to older people. At the time of this assessment there were 37 older people residing at the care home of whom approximately half were living with dementia. We undertook this unannounced responsive assessment due to the key question well-led being rated requires improvement at their last inspection and concerns we received alleging the service was poorly managed and was over reliant on agency staff. This onsite assessment was conducted by 3 adult social care inspectors who looked at all 15 quality statements related to the 2 key questions, is the service safe and well-led? For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. At this assessment we found Improvements were made however, these improvements were limited and the provider remains in breach due to ongoing failures in governance systems to identify and address issues. For example, medicines were not always stored securely and people risk assessments and management plans were sometimes not accessible or not sufficiently detailed, up to date or accurate. We have asked the provider to send us an action plan in response to the concerns we found at this assessment. Improvements made by the provider since our last assessment include the appointment of a new home manager and deputy manager and the commencement of a programme to redecorate and refurbish the entire care homes environment. The new managers had the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to lead effectively, which they did so with integrity, openness and honesty. In addition, the ground floor bedrooms, communal areas, and rear garden had already been refurbished.

Updated 23 January 2025

During this assessment we received feedback from 3 people living at the care home, 6 relatives and 3 external health and social care professionals about George Potter House.

People were positive about the quality of the care provided. People said they felt safe and generally happy living there. A relative told us, “Overall my husband and I were very pleased with my [family members] care at George Potter House. The staff always treated them with dignity and compassion.” People were complimentary about the way the care home was now being run by the new managers, and how accessible and approachable they both were. People said the new managers had made a good start improving the care home. A relative said, “I feel fortunate indeed that my [family member] is placed here and congratulate the new managers for all their efforts in improving the care home so quickly. They’ve done an excellent job so far!” An external care professional added, “We recognise both new managers are striving for excellence and applaud them for all the improvements they have made since being appointed. We are conscious they remain on a journey, but we know they acknowledge this. We are confident they will achieve their goal of making George Potter House a much better place for everyone to live and work in.” People’s safety was prioritised, and staff knew how to keep people safe from abuse or harm. A relative told us, “I have total admiration for the dedication of the staff, and I feel very safe in the knowledge that my [family member] is in their capable and caring hands.” There was an open, friendly and welcoming culture at the service. People’s feedback and experiences were used to continually improve the quality and safety of the service. Some people could not directly tell us about their experience, so we observed how staff engaged with them. This approach showed us staff listened to and interacted positively with people living in the care home.