CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Field House Residential Care Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, June 2022
Field House Residential Care Home was rated Requires Improvement because inspectors found unsafe medicines management and weak quality checks.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 26 April 2022. One inspector and a pharmacist inspector reviewed safe and well-led care. They spoke with people, staff and relatives, observed care, and checked medicines, care records, recruitment files and quality audits.
The main concern was medicines. Records did not always match the medicines available, so the home could not show that people had received all medicines as prescribed. Some medicines were given at the wrong times, skin patches were not always recorded or rotated correctly, and guidance for medicines given when needed was not detailed enough.
The home’s quality checks had not found these problems. Inspectors also found positive areas. People and relatives described staff as kind, the home was clean and tidy, staff recruitment checks were in place, and risks, incidents and infection control were generally managed.
Kind staff
People and relatives spoke positively about the staff’s kindness and care.
“People and relatives described the staff as kind and caring.” from the report
Safe recruitment
The home checked employment histories, references and criminal records before new staff started work.
“The provider followed safe recruitment practices.” from the report
Clean environment
Inspectors found the home clean and tidy, with measures in place to reduce infection risks.
“The home environment was clean and tidy, and staff worked to reduce the risk of infection.” from the report
Risk and incident management
People’s risks were reviewed, and accidents and incidents were monitored so lessons could be shared with staff.
“Accidents and incidents involving people were recorded and reported by staff and monitored by the management team to learn from these.” from the report
Medicines were not always safe
seriousMedicine quantities did not always match administration records. Inspectors could not be sure that some people had received their medicines as prescribed.
“These discrepancies showed the provider was unable to demonstrate people had received some of their medicines as prescribed.” from the report
Guidance for medicines given when needed
seriousSome written instructions did not explain clearly enough what symptoms staff should look for or when to give the medicine.
“The information included in some of these plans was not sufficient to inform the staff of how and when to administer these medicines.” from the report
Quality checks missed problems
seriousManagement audits had not identified the medicine shortfalls found during the inspection. This meant the home’s checks did not give reliable assurance about safety.
“These audits and checks were not effective, as they had not identified the shortfalls identified during the inspection placing people at potential risk of harm.” from the report
Staffing pressures
needs fixingStaff gave mixed views about staffing. One staff member said there were days with fewer staff than usual, although people’s needs were attended to promptly on the inspection day.
“On some days we only have three staff instead of the usual six.” from the report
- 01What changes have you made to ensure medicine quantities match the administration records?
- 02How do you now check that time-specific medicines are given at the prescribed times?
- 03How do staff know when to give medicines prescribed for use when needed?
- 04How are skin patches recorded and rotated to prevent unnecessary side effects?
- 05What did your action plan promise to improve, and what evidence can you show that these changes are working?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led only; the other areas were not inspected and their previous ratings were carried forward. This explanation was written from the published report of 30 June 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, February 2021
Field House Residential Care Home is rated Good; inspectors found people were safe and the home was better managed, with a review of medicinal creams still in progress.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 1 and 2 February 2021. Inspectors looked only at Safe and Well-led. They spoke with people, relatives and staff, and reviewed care, medicine, recruitment and quality records.
The home had made improvements since its previous inspection. Inspectors found enough staff, safer risk management, effective infection control and safe medicine systems. They also found that accidents and incidents were reviewed so lessons could be learned.
The home’s quality checks and management systems had improved. The previous breach of Regulation 17, about good governance, had been resolved. The ratings for Safe and Well-led were Good, and the overall rating changed from Requires Improvement to Good.
The ratings for Effective, Caring and Responsive were not assessed during this visit. Their previous ratings were carried forward when the overall rating was calculated.
Enough staff
Inspectors found there were enough staff to meet people’s needs safely. The home also used other staff for domestic and support work so care staff could focus on care.
“There were sufficient members of staff to meet people's needs safely.” from the report
Safer risk management
People had risk assessments and staff had clear guidance, including for a person with epilepsy. Equipment was checked and repairs were dealt with quickly.
“These helped to guide staff in the measures to take to minimise risk.” from the report
Infection control
Inspectors were assured that the home had effective arrangements for preventing and managing infections, including using protective equipment and carrying out testing.
“We were assured that the provider was making sure infection outbreaks can be effectively prevented or managed.” from the report
Improved management checks
The home had improved its audits and reviewed incidents more carefully. The previous governance breach had been resolved.
“At this inspection we found enough improvement had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of Regulation 17” from the report
Medicinal creams under review
minorThe home was still reviewing its procedures for medicinal creams. Inspectors did not say that people had been harmed, but this was an area the home was continuing to check.
“The registered manager and provider were in the process of reviewing procedures relating to the management of medicinal creams” from the report
Feedback results not yet available
minorSatisfaction questionnaires had been sent out, but the results were not due before the end of February 2021. Inspectors said they would check these at the next inspection.
“However, the results were not due back until the end of February 2021.” from the report
- 01What was the outcome of the review of procedures for managing medicinal creams?
- 02What work from the refurbishment programme has been completed, and is any work still outstanding?
- 03What did the satisfaction questionnaires show after the results were collected?
- 04How do the new daily meetings ensure that changes in each person’s care needs are passed to all relevant staff?
- 05How are relatives currently able to visit or keep in contact, and what infection control arrangements apply?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led only; the ratings for Effective, Caring and Responsive were carried forward from the previous comprehensive inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 23 February 2021 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 Field House Residential Care Home
6 rated inspections over 5 years: the service has slipped, from Good to Requires improvement.
- June 2022Requires improvementcurrent ratingdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
Read what inspectors found at Field House Residential Care Home →
- February 2021Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodWell-led: Good
Read what inspectors found at Field House Residential Care Home →
- December 2019Requires improvementdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- July 2018GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- November 2017Inspected but not ratedSafe: Inspected but not ratedWell-led: Inspected but not rated
- November 2017Inadequatedown from GoodSafe: InadequateEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Inadequate
- July 2017GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2016
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 11 March 2016.
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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