Tudor Court Care Home

Updated 1 January 2022

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. 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

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors, an assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Tudor Court 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 the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced and started on 9 December 2021.

What we did before 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. This is information providers are required to send us with 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 three people who used the service and the Expert by Experience spoke with eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, deputy managers and three members of staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included six 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 provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 1 January 2022

About the service

Tudor Court is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 18 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 29 people.

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

Medicines processes and systems were in place and people received their medications as prescribed. However, medicines in a liquid or cream form had not been dated once opened. This meant that staff could not be assured that the medicine was safe and effective to use. We made a recommendation about this.

The environment was clean and staff followed infection control procedures in line with national guidance for reducing the spread of Covid-19.

People and their relatives told us they had no concerns about the quality of care at Tudor Court and felt that people living there were safe. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding processes to keep people safe and knew how to report concerns.

Risks to people's health and well-being had been assessed and monitored to ensure they were kept safe. Regular checks of the environment, including equipment, fire and water safety, were completed to ensure it was safe for people to live in and complied with the relevant standards.

We observed the service had enough staff to meet people's needs. We saw people were attended to in a timely manner and staff were not rushed. Some staff reported to us that they were sometimes short staffed and relied heavily on agency staff, they felt they could not always give the care to people that they wanted to. However, this had improved recently and the registered manager told us they were actively trying to recruit staff.

The provider followed safe recruitment practices and ensured people were protected against the employment of unsuitable staff.

People's relatives told us the registered manager, management team and staff were supportive and approachable. The registered manager told us they engaged with people and their relatives on an ongoing basis.

The registered manager carried out regular checks on the quality and safety of the service and understood their regulatory responsibilities.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 28 January 2020).

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check and review risks associated with information gathered from our monitoring activity. We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, and well-led only. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm. Please see the safe and well led section of this focused report.

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.

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.