CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Knollbeck
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Inspectors found suitable staffing, risk assessments, medicines arrangements, infection control and accident monitoring.
- Effective?
- Good
- People's needs were assessed and their support plans were reviewed. Staff had suitable training and worked with health professionals to support people's health and wellbeing.
- Caring?
- Good
- People were treated with dignity and respect and were involved in decisions about their care. Staff supported people to develop independence and achieve personal goals.
- Responsive?
- Outstanding
- Support was highly personalised and adapted to people's interests, relationships and goals. People were helped to take part in community activities, work experience, holidays and other meaningful activities.
- Well-led?
- Good
- The home had an open and inclusive culture, with systems for checking quality and acting on concerns. People, relatives, staff and professionals were involved in improving the service.
What inspectors found, January 2024
Rated Good, with Outstanding responsiveness; inspectors found safe, kind and highly personalised care.
Inspectors visited unannounced on 16 and 24 October 2023. One inspector and an Expert by Experience spoke with people, relatives, staff and visiting professionals. They also reviewed care plans, medicines records, staff files and management records.
The home supported 7 people with learning disabilities and could support up to 8. Inspectors found people were safe, treated with kindness and supported to make choices. Medicines, staffing, infection control, risk management and building checks were found to be suitable.
The strongest area was responsiveness, rated Outstanding. People received highly personalised support, took part in community activities, followed their interests and were helped to achieve personal goals. The overall Good rating means the home met the expected standards across all five areas, with responsiveness judged exceptional.
Personalised support
Staff supported people in ways that reflected their individual wishes, needs and ambitions. Inspectors found this approach was embedded throughout the home.
“The provider ensured people received a very high level of person centred care.” from the report
Activities and community life
People were supported to follow their interests and take part in meaningful activities outside the home, including community projects and work experience.
“People were supported extremely well to maintain relationships, follow their interests and take part in activities that were relevant to them.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors observed a positive, inclusive atmosphere. People were supported to make choices, maintain their dignity and build independence.
“People's privacy, dignity and independence were respected and promoted.” from the report
Safe medicines support
Staff were trained and competent to give medicines safely. The provider also arranged a medicines review when one person's treatment caused morning tiredness.
“People were supported to receive their medicines safely by staff who were trained and competent to administer medicines.” from the report
Moving and handling training
minorThe provider said it would consider moving and handling training because one or more people's mobility had deteriorated. The report does not say this was a breach or that people were harmed.
“The provider informed us they would consider moving and handling of people training due to deterioration in mobility.” from the report
- 01What moving and handling training has been considered or introduced since the inspection, and how are changing mobility needs assessed?
- 02How will you support my relative to follow their interests and take part in activities in the local community?
- 03How are people involved in decisions about their care, daily routines and future goals?
- 04How do you review medicines when someone experiences side effects such as tiredness?
- 05How do people and relatives raise concerns, and how are lessons from complaints used to improve the home?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five CQC key questions, including infection prevention and control; inspectors visited on 16 and 24 October 2023 and reviewed selected records and feedback from people, relatives, staff and professionals. This explanation was written from the published report of 30 January 2024 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, October 2017
Heathcotes (Knollbeck) was rated Good overall; inspectors found outstanding personalised support and no serious shortfalls.
The inspection was unannounced and took place on 19 September 2017. One inspector spoke with people living at the home, staff, managers and healthcare professionals. They also reviewed care records, medicines records, staff files, complaints, incidents and quality checks.
The home was judged Good for safe, effective and caring services, and for how it was led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines practice, suitable training, regular health support and kind care. People were supported to make choices and remain as independent as possible.
Responsive care was rated Outstanding. Staff knew people very well, planned support around their individual wishes and helped them take part in activities and the running of the home. The overall rating remained Good, the same as at the July 2015 inspection.
Personalised support
Staff understood people's individual needs, wishes and emotional responses. Their approach helped people settle and reduced behaviours that could put them or others at risk.
“The proactive approach by staff has minimised the level of challenging behaviour and [person] is very settled.” from the report
Meaningful activities
People were supported to take part in group and one-to-one activities. They helped care for the garden, animals and vegetable garden, and activities were clearly displayed.
“The garden had been developed to accommodate a fish pond, vegetable garden, rabbits and chickens.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Staff spent time with people, listened to them and supported them patiently. People were encouraged to do tasks for themselves, such as preparing drinks and meals.
“People were shown patience and respect; staff were not rushed, were focused and spent time on an individual basis with each person.” from the report
Safe medicines practice
Inspectors found medicines were given consistently and safely. Records were complete, staff were trained and medicines were checked.
“Medicines were administered consistently and safely. No one was on medication without their knowledge (covert) and no one was prescribed medicine which required additional storage for safety purposes.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How are people's current care plans reviewed, and how are their own views included?
- 02How do you make sure medicines administration records remain complete and accurate?
- 03What activities are currently available, and how are they chosen with each person?
- 04How do staffing levels change when people's needs change or staff are unavailable?
- 05How are concerns and complaints recorded, investigated and used to improve the service?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five key questions and the overall quality of the home; the report says all five ratings remained the same as at the July 2015 inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 24 October 2017 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 Knollbeck
3 rated inspections over 8 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- January 2024Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: OutstandingWell-led: Good
- October 2017Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: OutstandingWell-led: Good
- September 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: OutstandingWell-led: Good
- December 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- January 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- October 2011
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2010
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 8 November 2010.
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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97 live-in carers within about an hour of Rotherham
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. 80 can care for a couple. 11 years' experience on average.
“Carla has been a god send with the implementation of bringing mum back home from respite care.”
“Beatrice was a talent dementia carer whose professionalism and dedication allowed mums wishes to remain in her own her come true.”
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.