CQC report explained · a nursing home
What the CQC found at Church Farm at Rusticus
Rated Requires improvement: inspectors found the home was not performing as well as it should and told it what to change.
What inspectors found, October 2023
Church Farm at Rusticus is rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with some staffing and management issues to watch.
Inspectors visited without warning on 30 and 31 August and 5 September 2023. They spoke with people living at the home, relatives, staff and a visiting professional. They reviewed care plans, medicines records, training files, audits and other records.
All five areas were rated Good: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found that people were protected from avoidable harm, received their medicines safely, and had their health, eating and drinking needs supported.
People and relatives spoke positively about the kind and respectful care. Care plans were personalised, activities and social contact were available, and complaints were taken seriously. The home had improved from Requires Improvement at its previous inspection in 2019, particularly in Safe and Responsive.
Safe care
Inspectors found detailed risk assessments, appropriate safety equipment and safe medicines systems. Staff understood safeguarding responsibilities and incidents were investigated.
“Risks were assessed, monitored and mitigated well, these included risks associated with people's health, individual needs and the environment.” from the report
Kind and respectful staff
People and relatives spoke highly of the care. Inspectors saw staff being kind, patient and respectful, while supporting privacy and independence.
“We observed staff being kind, respectful and patient with people in all interactions from administering medicine to supporting people when they were becoming anxious or upset.” from the report
Personalised care
Care plans recorded people's preferences and were developed with people and relatives. Specific requests, including preferences about personal care, were respected.
“Care plans were person centred, people and their relatives had been involved in developing these.” from the report
Activities and relationships
People had choices about how to spend their days and could socialise, see family and friends, take part in gardening and visit the community.
“People had a lot of choice on how to spend their days.” from the report
Quality monitoring
The provider used audits and an action tracker to monitor the home and follow up improvements.
“Quality assurance and auditing processes were in place with a tracker, so management had oversight on what had been completed and whether identified actions had been added to the appropriate plan.” from the report
Staffing consistency
needs fixingInspectors saw enough staff during the visit and people did not report delays. However, some staff and relatives said this was not always the case, so the new staff deployment system should be checked.
“We observed there to be enough staff, however staff and some relatives fed back they did not feel this was always the case.” from the report
Management continuity
needs fixingThere had been several management and senior management changes. Inspectors said this had affected continuity in some governance processes, although the provider had recruited and restructured management.
“There had been a number of management and senior management changes which had led to a lack of continuity within some governance processes.” from the report
Advocacy information
minorSome people had advocates, but information was not readily available about how people could access advocacy services independently. The manager said this information would be made available.
“However there was no information readily available on how people could access advocacy services independently.” from the report
Staff development
minorStaff received relevant training, but some staff wanted more support to develop professionally.
“Staff told us whilst they were given the relevant training some expressed they would like more support in developing professionally.” from the report
- 01How has the new system for deploying staff affected staffing levels on each unit and each shift?
- 02What has changed since the inspection to improve continuity in management and governance?
- 03Has information about accessing independent advocacy services been made available to residents and families?
- 04What further professional development and support are now available to staff?
- 05How are you checking that care plans continue to reflect each person's preferences and changing needs?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five CQC questions, including the premises, care and infection prevention measures. This explanation was written from the published report of 20 October 2023 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
What inspectors found, March 2022
Church Farm at Rusticus was inspected but not rated; inspectors found good infection control and visiting arrangements during the COVID-19 response.
Inspectors made an unannounced, targeted visit on 1 February 2022. They looked mainly at infection prevention and control, and asked about staffing pressures linked to COVID-19.
Inspectors were assured that the home was using protective equipment safely, arranging testing, managing visitors and admissions safely, and keeping its infection control policy up to date. They also found regular checks and audits of infection control.
The home was clean and well maintained. Relatives could keep in touch using technology, and there was a visiting pod. The service was inspected but not rated, so this report does not give a Good, Requires improvement or Inadequate rating.
Infection control training and checks
Staff had training on using PPE and infection control. Managers carried out regular checks and audits to see whether procedures were being followed.
“All staff received training on the correct use of PPE and infection control.” from the report
Safe visiting arrangements
The home screened visitors, followed the visiting guidance in place at the time and provided a visiting pod. Relatives could also keep in touch through technology.
“There was a clear system for visitors in place to ensure they followed the current guidance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and social distancing.” from the report
Clean environment
Inspectors found the home clean and well maintained throughout.
“The home was clean and well maintained throughout.” from the report
Testing and risk assessments
The provider had arrangements for COVID-19 testing and carried out risk assessments for people using the service and staff.
“The provider had arrangements in place to ensure people and staff were tested for COVID-19 in accordance with current government guidance.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01What staffing pressures are affecting the home now, and what measures are in place to protect people's care?
- 02What are the current visiting arrangements, including any screening, PPE or visiting pod requirements?
- 03How do you check that staff use PPE and follow infection control procedures correctly?
- 04How are people and staff tested for infections, and how would the home manage an outbreak?
- 05What arrangements are in place to help residents keep in touch with relatives if visiting is restricted?
This was an unannounced targeted inspection of infection prevention and control and COVID-19-related staffing pressures; it did not assess the other four quality areas or give a full service rating. This explanation was written from the published report of 2 March 2022 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.
Every inspection of Church Farm at Rusticus
2 rated inspections over 5 years: the service has improved, from Requires improvement to Good.
- October 2023Goodcurrent ratingSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2022Inspected but not ratedSafe: Inspected but not rated
- February 2019Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Good
- September 2017
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 September 2017.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission, Open Government Licence v3.0. A home can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections.
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