CQC report explained · a nursing home
What the CQC found at Folkestone Nursing Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, December 2022
Folkestone Nursing Home was rated Good; inspectors found safe, personalised care, with some medicine recording errors and a garden trip hazard addressed after the visit.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 14 September and 17 October 2022. Two inspectors and an Expert by Experience spoke with people, relatives and staff, and checked care records, medicines, recruitment files, audits and building safety documents.
Inspectors found people were safe, treated as individuals and offered activities. There were enough staff, medicines were generally managed safely, infection controls were in place and complaints were handled appropriately. The home also worked with other health professionals.
There were some shortfalls. Inspectors found errors in stock counts for five medicines belonging to three people, and a garden path was blocked by overgrown plants and debris. The path was cleared after the inspection, and the home reviewed medicines training and made medicine audits unannounced.
The overall rating remained Good, as did Safe, Responsive and Well-led. Effective and Caring were not inspected during this visit, so their previous ratings were used when calculating the overall rating.
Enough staff
Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs. People and relatives also said staff were available and checked on people regularly.
“There were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs.” from the report
Personalised care
Care plans included people's histories, preferences, communication needs and the support needed for individual situations.
“Care plans were detailed, personalised and included people's preferences.” from the report
Activities
People were offered group and individual activities, including exercise, massage, baking and outdoor walks. Staff also offered activities to people who preferred to stay in their rooms.
“People had access to a range of activities.” from the report
Open management
The provider used surveys, meetings and audits to hear people's views and identify improvements. Staff said managers were supportive and open to suggestions.
“The provider had quality audit systems in place to check for any improvements that could be made to the service.” from the report
Medicine stock counts
needs fixingInspectors found errors in stock counts for five medicines belonging to three people on the inspection day. The home investigated this, reviewed staff competency and made audits unannounced afterwards.
“we found errors in stock counts for 3 people's medicines for 5 medicines for the day of inspection.” from the report
Garden pathway
needs fixingThe garden path was blocked by overgrown plants and debris, which could have caused a trip. The home confirmed after the inspection that it had been cleared.
“the garden pathway was blocked by overgrown plants and debris which could form a trip hazard to anyone going into the garden.” from the report
- 01What checks are now used to prevent medicine stock count errors?
- 02Have all staff who administer medicines had their competency reviewed, and how often is this repeated?
- 03How do you keep the garden path clear and check for other trip hazards?
- 04What activities are offered at weekends to people who do not have visitors?
- 05How will families be told promptly if their relative has a fall or another accident?
This was a focused inspection of Safe, Responsive and Well-led; Effective and Caring were not inspected and their previous ratings were used for the overall rating. This explanation was written from the published report of 13 December 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, March 2021
Inspected but not rated; inspectors found strong COVID-19 infection prevention measures at Folkestone Nursing Home.
This was an announced, targeted inspection on 11 February 2021. It looked at infection prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inspectors were assured that visitors were screened, people were admitted safely, and staff used personal protective equipment and testing. They were also assured about cleaning, social distancing, shielding and managing possible outbreaks.
The home had screening areas outside and used tents for visits when the weather allowed. The report says there had been no COVID-19 cases during the first wave and one case at the time of inspection. The service was inspected but not rated, so this report does not give an overall quality rating.
Visitor screening
The home had outdoor areas for checking visitors for possible COVID-19 symptoms before they entered. Visits were held in tented areas when the weather allowed.
“The home had set up areas in the external grounds to help identify potential visitors' signs and symptoms of COVID-19 through screening away from the home.” from the report
COVID-19 planning
The report says there had been no COVID-19 cases during the first wave and one case at the inspection. Staff linked this to planning and having enough PPE and testing.
“The home had no cases of COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic and one case at the time of our inspection.” from the report
Infection control systems
Inspectors were assured that the home used PPE safely, arranged testing, maintained hygiene and had an up-to-date infection prevention and control policy.
“We were assured that the provider's infection prevention and control policy was up to date.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How are visitors currently screened before entering the home?
- 02How does the home currently arrange testing for residents and staff?
- 03What arrangements are now used for visits, particularly when outdoor or tented visits are not possible?
- 04What happened after the one COVID-19 case mentioned in the report, and how would the home manage a new outbreak?
- 05When was the infection prevention and control policy last reviewed?
This was a targeted inspection of infection prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic; the service was inspected but not rated and the report does not rate the other areas of care. This explanation was written from the published report of 10 March 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 Folkestone Nursing Home
5 rated inspections over 8 years: the service has improved, from Inadequate to Good.
- December 2022Goodcurrent ratingSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2021Inspected but not ratedSafe: Inspected but not rated
- December 2017Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- July 2016Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- June 2015Requires improvementup from InadequateSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- January 2015InadequateSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: InadequateWell-led: Inadequate
- April 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- October 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- June 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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