CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Dorrington House (Dereham)
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- Inspectors were assured that infection prevention and control measures were in place, including cleaning, personal protective equipment, testing, safe admissions and outbreak management. Staffing pressures linked to COVID-19 were also discussed.
- Effective?
- Good
- Does the care work? Training, consent, food and drink, working with GPs and nurses.
- Caring?
- Good
- Are people treated with kindness and dignity?
- Responsive?
- Requires improvement
- Is care built around the person? Care plans, activities, complaints.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Is the home run well? The manager, the culture, how problems get found and fixed.
What inspectors found, March 2022
Inspected but not rated; inspectors found good infection control, visiting arrangements and activities.
This was an unannounced, targeted inspection on 23 February 2022. It focused on infection prevention and control, and asked about staffing pressures linked to COVID-19.
Inspectors found the home was visibly clean. They were assured that infection risks, visitors, admissions, testing, personal protective equipment and outbreaks were being managed. Risk assessments supported safe visiting and family contact.
The home also provided individual and group activities to reduce social isolation. This inspection did not give an overall quality rating. The Safe question was inspected but not rated.
Infection control
The home was clean and had enhanced cleaning arrangements for touch points and higher-risk areas.
“The home was visibly clean throughout. There was enhanced cleaning schedules in place, including the regular cleaning of touch points and risk areas within the home.” from the report
Family contact
The home used risk assessments and essential caregiver arrangements to support relationships with families.
“Staff supported people to maintain relationships with their families and implemented risk assessments and the use of the essential care giver status to meet people's individual well-being.” from the report
Activities
Individual and group activities were available, including technology-based activities for people who could not easily leave their beds.
“One to one and group activities were in place to keep people entertained and prevent the risk of social isolation.” from the report
Safe visiting
There were arrangements for visitors, including checks and designated entry areas with protective equipment and relevant documentation.
“These areas contained personal protective equipment, and documentation to ensure where appropriate visitor's COVID-19 vaccination status was being checked.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How are you currently managing COVID-19-related staffing pressures, and what measures are in place if staffing levels change?
- 02How do you currently support family visits and visits into the local community through individual risk assessments?
- 03How are people who cannot leave their beds supported to take part in activities and avoid social isolation?
- 04How do you currently manage testing, personal protective equipment and safe admissions?
- 05How are visitors' vaccination or exemption arrangements checked now?
This was a targeted inspection of infection prevention and control, with questions about COVID-19-related staffing pressures; the service was inspected but not rated. This explanation was written from the published report of 16 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.
What inspectors found, January 2019
Dorrington House (Dereham) was rated Good overall; care was safe and kind, but the responsive service needed improvement.
Inspectors made an unannounced focused visit on 3 December 2018. They spoke with people living in the home, relatives, staff and managers. They observed care and checked care records, medicines, recruitment and quality checks.
The home was rated Good for safe, effective and caring care, and for how it was led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines practice, suitable training and kind, respectful relationships.
Responsive care was rated Requires Improvement. Daily records were not always complete or detailed enough to show that care matched people's preferences. Some people also felt there were not enough activities and said they felt bored at times.
The overall rating improved from Requires Improvement at the previous inspection in November 2017. Earlier breaches relating to safety, consent and management had been addressed, and the home was no longer in breach of those regulations at this inspection.
People felt safe
Inspectors found that risks were assessed, staff understood the actions needed, and enough staff were available to support people safely.
“There was enough staff on duty to enable people to remain safe and receive care in a timely way.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Staff knew people's preferences and treated them with patience, dignity and respect. People were supported to make choices and remain independent.
“Staff treated people with respect and were caring.” from the report
Safe medicines
Medicines were stored, given and recorded safely. Inspectors also found that stock and administration checks were carried out.
“Medicines were safely received, stored, administered and destroyed” from the report
Improvement since the last inspection
The home had acted on earlier concerns about safety, consent and management. The overall rating improved from Requires Improvement to Good.
“Improvements had been made to the service following our previous inspection in November 2017” from the report
Daily care records were incomplete
needs fixingDaily records did not always show whether care was delivered in line with people's preferences. One person's preferred time for a bath or shower was not consistently followed or recorded in enough detail.
“However, daily records were not always fully completed, therefore did not show that care provided was in line with people's individual preferences and was responsive to their wishes.” from the report
Activities and boredom
minorActivities were available and coordinated for five days a week, but some people said more activities were needed and that they felt bored at times.
“People enjoyed the activities that were provided, but some felt more should be provided and felt bored at times.” from the report
Some drinks records were inaccurate
needs fixingFor a small number of occasions, staff did not accurately record how much some people drank when this needed to be monitored. The provider agreed to review management checks.
“We saw that on a small number of occasions staff did not always accurately record the amount people had to drink where this was required to be monitored.” from the report
Audits missed some problems
needs fixingThe home's quality checks had not identified the weaknesses in record keeping and activities provision. Managers said they would address this after the inspection.
“Areas for development we had noted such as record keeping and activities provision were not picked up by the provider's audit process.” from the report
- 01How do you now check that daily records show the care each person received, including personal care at their preferred time?
- 02What changes have you made to activities since the inspection, and how do you check whether people still feel bored?
- 03How do you make sure drinks are recorded accurately for people who need their intake monitored?
- 04What did the action plan sent after the inspection require, and which actions have now been completed?
- 05How does the current manager monitor whether audits are finding problems with records and activities?
This was an unannounced focused inspection following the previous Requires Improvement rating, and inspectors assessed the overall service across the five CQC questions. This explanation was written from the published report of 24 January 2019 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 Dorrington House (Dereham)
4 rated inspections over 4 years: the service has improved, from Inadequate to Good.
- March 2022Inspected but not ratedcurrent ratingSafe: Inspected but not rated
- January 2019Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Good
- November 2017Requires improvementdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- December 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- July 2015Inspected but not ratedSafe: Inadequate
- July 2015InadequateSafe: InadequateEffective: InadequateCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: InadequateWell-led: Inadequate
- September 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- August 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- December 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- January 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- January 2011
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 4 January 2011.
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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13 live-in carers within about an hour of Norfolk
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 £990 to £1,120 a week. 9 can care for a couple. 14 years' experience on average.
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.