CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Freehold Cottage Residential Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- People were kept safe through safeguarding systems, regular risk assessments, safe recruitment and medicines checks. Infection prevention and control arrangements were also found to be effective.
- Effective?
- Good
- People's needs and choices were assessed and recorded in person-centred plans. Staff training was relevant, but some training records were out of date and were corrected during the inspection.
- Caring?
- Good
- People and relatives described staff as kind, respectful and supportive. Staff encouraged independence and involved people in decisions about their care.
- Responsive?
- Good
- Care was tailored to people's preferences and communication needs. People were supported to take part in activities, use the local community and maintain important relationships.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Inspectors found an open and supportive culture, regular quality checks and good partnership working with health and social care professionals. People, relatives and staff were involved in improving the service.
What inspectors found, February 2023
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with some staff training records needing updating.
Inspectors visited over two days in January 2023. They spoke with people living in the home, relatives and staff. They reviewed care records, staff recruitment files, medicines records, training records and quality checks.
All five areas were rated Good: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. People were protected from abuse, medicines were given as prescribed, and risks were assessed and reviewed.
Inspectors found that staff understood people's mental health needs and supported their independence, choices, relationships and activities. Relatives and people spoke positively about the care and staff.
Some staff training records were out of date. The registered manager corrected this during the inspection. The previous rating was also Good in 2019.
Promoting independence
People were supported with cooking, cleaning, travel, health appointments and self-administering medicines. They had freedom and control over their daily lives.
“The staff took an active approach to promoting people's independence.” from the report
Personalised activities and relationships
People had individual activity timetables and were supported to attend clubs, go on holiday and keep in touch with relatives.
“People were supported to maintain their relationships and to take part in meaningful activities.” from the report
Training records needed updating
needs fixingStaff had relevant training, but not all training records were up to date. The registered manager corrected this during the inspection, so ask how records are now checked and maintained.
“Staff had received training that was relevant to their role but not all training records were up to date.” from the report
- 01How do you now check that every staff member's training record is up to date?
- 02How would you support my relative's particular mental health needs, goals and communication style?
- 03How do you decide whether someone can safely self-administer their medicines?
- 04How often do health professionals visit, and how are changes in my relative's health recorded and acted on?
- 05How would my relative and family raise a concern or complaint, and how would you respond?
This was an announced inspection covering all five CQC questions, including infection prevention and control; all five ratings remained Good from the previous inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 17 February 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.
Every inspection of Freehold Cottage Residential Home
3 rated inspections over 7 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- February 2023Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
Read what inspectors found at Freehold Cottage Residential Home →
- April 2019Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- August 2016GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- July 2020
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 8 July 2020.
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.