CQC report explained · a nursing home
What the CQC found at Kingston Court Care Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, April 2023
Rated Good; inspectors found safe care and stronger management, with minor record-keeping issues addressed during the visit.
This was an unannounced focused inspection on 8, 9 and 20 February 2023. Inspectors checked Safe and Well-led, including infection control. They spoke with people, relatives and staff, observed care, and reviewed care, medicine, recruitment and management records.
The home was rated Good for Safe and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe recruitment, suitable training, risk assessments, safe medicine systems and effective infection control. People and relatives said they felt safe.
The home had improved since the previous inspection, which was rated Requires Improvement and found a breach of Regulation 17. Audits and governance systems were now working, and the home was no longer in breach.
The overall Good rating includes ratings carried over from the previous inspection because this visit only checked Safe and Well-led.
Safe staffing
Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs. Staff had appropriate training and recruitment checks were completed.
“There were enough staff to meet people's needs.” from the report
Safeguarding
Staff understood the signs of abuse and how to report concerns. People and relatives told inspectors they felt safe.
“People were safeguarded from abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about the signs of abuse and knew how to report a concern.” from the report
Respecting decisions
Staff sought consent, offered choices and followed best-interest processes when people could not make particular decisions.
“Staff sought consent before carrying out any personal care. Staff gave people choices and respected their decisions.” from the report
Stronger management
Management had improved since the previous inspection. Audits were up to date and action plans were used to complete improvements.
“The provider had quality assurance checks in place. The management team carried out audits to ensure the safe running of the service.” from the report
Care-plan accuracy
minorSome care plans contained minor errors and conflicting information. Staff knew people well, but families should ask how these records are checked and corrected.
“Some areas of the care plans had some minor errors and conflicting information.” from the report
Medicine records
minorInspectors found some recording anomalies. These were discussed with the manager and addressed immediately, and the audit tool was updated.
“Some recording anomalies were discussed with the registered manager and addressed immediately.” from the report
- 01How do you check that care plans do not contain errors or conflicting information?
- 02What changes were made to the medicine audit after the recording anomalies found at inspection?
- 03How do you decide whether staffing numbers and deployment are enough for people's changing needs?
- 04How has management stability been maintained since the improvements described in this report?
- 05How do you collect and act on feedback from residents and relatives?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led, including infection control; the other ratings and parts of the overall rating were carried over from the previous inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 1 April 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, March 2022
Rated Requires Improvement overall; inspectors found kind care and good activities, but medicines records and management checks were not reliable enough.
This was an unannounced, planned inspection over three days. Inspectors spoke with people, relatives, staff and care professionals. They reviewed care records, medicines records, recruitment files and the home's quality checks.
The home was rated Good for Effective, Caring and Responsive. People were treated kindly, supported to make choices and offered activities and contact with relatives. The home was clean, well maintained and staff generally followed infection control practices.
Safe and Well-led were rated Requires Improvement. Medicines records were incomplete or unclear, COVID-19 testing records had gaps, and management audits had not identified or corrected some problems. The provider breached Regulation 17 on good governance. CQC asked for an action plan and will monitor progress before returning.
Clean and well maintained
Inspectors found the home clean, well maintained and equipped with sufficient personal protective equipment. Staff used infection control measures correctly.
“The premises were very clean and housekeeping staff carried out enhanced cleaning schedules to maintain good hygiene in the home.” from the report
Kind and respectful staff
People and relatives spoke positively about the care and staff's attitude. Inspectors saw friendly and compassionate interactions.
“Every member of staff I have worked alongside has been compassionate and caring to every resident” from the report
Activities and contact
The home offered a range of activities and used calls, video calls and visits to help people keep in touch with relatives.
“We try and do something different every day. I go round and see people in their rooms if they want to do things.” from the report
Good partnership working
Care professionals said staff knew people well and made appropriate referrals when health needs changed.
“The carers have been very knowledgeable and helpful, and I have been able to follow up with the nurses after visits.” from the report
Medicines records
seriousRecords did not always show that medicines were given as prescribed or stored at the correct temperatures. Guidance for some creams and as-needed medicines was also incomplete.
“Records did not always demonstrate medicines were administered in line with prescribed instructions.” from the report
Management checks
seriousAudits and electronic monitoring systems failed to identify several problems or ensure that known issues were corrected.
“The provider's failure to ensure effective quality monitoring systems were in place was a breach of Regulation 17 (Good Governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.” from the report
COVID-19 testing records
seriousRecords did not always show that weekly testing had been completed for some staff and agency staff.
“Records about staff testing for COVID-19 did not always demonstrate government guidance had been followed.” from the report
Nutrition follow-up
needs fixingPeople's food and fluid intake was monitored, but records did not always show what action was taken when fluid targets were missed. Mealtime equipment was not always provided to people who needed it.
“However, there was no record of the additional actions taken to address this even where the targets had not been met for several days running.” from the report
- 01What has been changed so medicines records now show that each medicine was given as prescribed, including PEG flushes, creams and as-needed medicines?
- 02How are medicine storage temperatures checked and what happens immediately if a record is missing?
- 03How do you now record COVID-19 tests for permanent and agency staff?
- 04When someone repeatedly misses their fluid target, what action is taken and where is it recorded?
- 05How does the management team check that problems found in audits are corrected and remain corrected?
This was a full, unannounced inspection covering all five key questions, including infection prevention and control; it was the first inspection under the new provider. This explanation was written from the published report of 11 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.
Every inspection of Kingston Court Care Home
5 rated inspections over 8 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- April 2023Goodcurrent ratingup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2022Requires improvementdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- June 2018Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- March 2017Requires improvementdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- April 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Good
- June 2019
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 10 June 2019.
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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