CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Croft House Rest Home
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
Rated Good; inspectors found safe staffing and caring leadership, but medicine competency checks were not always recorded.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 13 July 2023. One inspector spoke with people living at the home, relatives and staff. They looked at care records, medicines, staffing, safety records, infection control and quality checks.
The home was rated Good for Safe and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe recruitment, good medicine procedures, suitable infection control and systems to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. They also found an open culture, good teamwork and regular checks on service quality.
There were some areas to improve. Staff medicine competency checks were not always documented, and staff sometimes knew more about people's needs than was written in their care plans. The report made a recommendation about medicine competency records. The overall rating remained Good, but this was not a full inspection of all five areas.
Safe medicines processes
Inspectors saw staff following safe medicine procedures. Instructions were available for medicines given when needed or in varying doses.
“We observed staff followed safe processes during the inspection.” from the report
Staffing and recruitment
Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs and said recruitment was safe. Staffing had also been increased in the evenings because staff had felt more pressure then.
“Staff continued to be recruited safely, and there were enough staff deployed at all times to meet people's needs safely.” from the report
Open and caring culture
The home was described as open and inclusive, with people at the centre of care. Relatives and people spoke positively about the atmosphere and staff support.
“The registered manager had created a culture that was open and inclusive.” from the report
Quality monitoring
The home used audits, feedback and an external auditor to check and improve the service. Inspectors found clear responsibilities and accountability.
“The registered manager used a variety of method to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.” from the report
Medicine competency records
needs fixingStaff competency to administer medicines had been checked, but the checks were not always documented. The report recommended reviewing and updating this system.
“However, staff competency checks were not always documented.” from the report
Care plan detail
needs fixingIn some cases, staff knew more about people's needs than was recorded in their care plans. The manager said this was an area being improved.
“In some cases, staff knew more about people than was included in care plans.” from the report
Fire door feedback
needs fixingThe fire service had given feedback about fire doors. The home was acting on this at the time of the inspection.
“The service had received some feedback from the fire service about fire doors, which they were acting on at the time of the inspection.” from the report
- 01How are medicine administration competency checks now documented and kept up to date?
- 02How do you make sure care plans contain all the information staff need about each person's needs?
- 03What action was taken following the fire service feedback about fire doors?
- 04What staffing arrangements are now in place during the evenings?
- 05How will you tell families about improvements identified through audits and feedback?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led only; the other key question ratings were carried over from the previous inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 6 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, November 2018
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and responsive care, but end-of-life wishes were not always recorded in enough detail.
This was an unannounced inspection on 15 October 2018. Inspectors spoke with people living in the home, relatives, staff and a visiting health professional. They reviewed care records, medicines records, staff training and recruitment checks, accident records and management checks.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff at busy times, safe medicines management, suitable risk assessments and lawful arrangements where people were deprived of their liberty. People and relatives generally said they were happy with the care.
The inspection found clear improvements since the previous inspection, when the service was rated Requires improvement and several regulations were breached. The only shortfall identified at this inspection was that records of people's end-of-life wishes were basic and needed more detail. The inspectors made a recommendation about this.
Improvement since last inspection
The home had addressed the main problems found at the previous inspection, including staffing, safety, liberty safeguards and quality checks.
“At this inspection in October 2018, we found improvements had been made.” from the report
Staffing and safety
Additional staff were provided at busy times. People said they received help promptly and were not rushed.
“People told us they received care and support at the times they agreed and they were not rushed or hurried in any way.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors saw caring interactions. Records were stored securely and staff protected people's privacy and dignity.
“People and relatives told us staff were caring and we saw people were treated in a caring and respectful way.” from the report
Checks and feedback
Audits covered areas such as the environment, medicines and accidents. The manager also gathered views from people and relatives and recorded actions taken.
“Audits were also carried out on the environment, medicines and accidents and incidents.” from the report
Activities and choice
People could choose whether to join activities such as dominoes, quizzes, darts and exercises. Staff supported people to take part if they wished.
“This demonstrated people were encouraged to engage in social events to minimise the risk of social isolation.” from the report
End-of-life wishes
needs fixingCare records included people's end-of-life discussions, but the information was sometimes too basic. Inspectors recommended using best-practice guidance to record these wishes more fully.
“We noted the information was basic and was not always informative regarding the details of peoples end of life wishes.” from the report
- 01How do you now record and regularly review each person's end-of-life wishes?
- 02What staffing levels are provided at busy times, and how do you check that people are not waiting for help?
- 03What changes have been made since this inspection to improve end-of-life care planning?
- 04How are relatives involved in care planning and decisions about their family member's care?
- 05How do you use audits and feedback from people and relatives to make further improvements?
This was an unannounced inspection of the overall service, covering all five CQC questions, with 20 people receiving support at the time. This explanation was written from the published report of 15 November 2018 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 Croft House Rest Home
4 rated inspections over 7 years: the service has improved, from Requires improvement to Good.
- October 2023Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- November 2018Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodWell-led: Good
- January 2018Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- December 2016Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- November 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- June 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- February 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- August 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- April 2012
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 11 April 2012.
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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85 live-in carers within about an hour of Lancashire
These are self-employed carers on PrimeCarers, the introductory agency that runs this directory. Each has a profile with their own rates and reviews from families, and you choose who to talk to.
Most charge £980 to £1,260 a week. 78 can care for a couple. 11 years' experience on average.
“She understands the needs of an elderly person in the early stages of dementia and has treated my mother with great kindness and skill.”
“Thanks to Tracy, Dad was always immaculately dressed and clean, his meals were all home cooked and nutritionally well balanced and his home was always kept really clean and tidy.”
Every carer has had an enhanced DBS check in the last 18 months, ID and right-to-work checks and an online interview. Their skills and training are for you to check with them. Carers set their own rates, and who is free changes week to week.