CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Saxon Close
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
What inspectors found, August 2018
Saxon Close was rated Good in all five areas; inspectors found safe, caring and person-centred support.
This was an unannounced comprehensive inspection on 26 July 2018. One inspector met all five people living there, observed staff support and checked two care records, medicines records, meeting minutes and quality audits. Some people could not describe their experiences in detail, so observation was important.
The home was found to be safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Staff understood people's needs, supported independence and used communication aids to help people make choices. Medicines were managed safely, people accessed healthcare, and the home was clean.
People were involved in their care where possible and had detailed support plans. They were supported with activities, complaints and decisions about their lives. The rating stayed Good, as it had at the previous inspection, with no serious risks or concerns identified.
Safe medicines support
Medicines were administered as prescribed and records checked for two people had no unexplained gaps. Two staff signed each medicines record to reduce the risk of errors.
“Medicines were managed safely and administered as prescribed and in a way that met people's individual preferences.” from the report
Respectful communication
Staff knew how each person communicated and used pictures, objects, signs, gestures and simple questions to support choices.
“Staff communicated skilfully with people, and clearly understood how each person needed to be supported to make decisions.” from the report
Person-centred plans
Support plans explained what people could do for themselves, what help they needed and how staff should support their goals and behaviour.
“Support plans were very detailed and fully reflected people's needs.” from the report
Activities and interests
People were supported to take part in activities such as horse riding, cooking, shopping, meals out, holidays and community activities.
“People were supported to follow their interests.” from the report
Complaints handled
Staff recognised that people might show dissatisfaction without words. The complaints log showed that complaints were handled appropriately and used to help improve the service.
“Each of these complaints, as well as those expressed verbally or in paper form, were handled appropriately.” from the report
Quality monitoring
The provider used regular audits and other checks to monitor support and drive continuous improvement.
“The provider had effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the support provided.” from the report
Permanent staff vacancies
minorSome permanent posts were vacant during the inspection. The report says these were being recruited to and covered by the provider's relief staff, who knew the people well.
“Although there were some vacant permanent posts at the time of our inspection these were being recruited to.” from the report
- 01How many permanent staff posts are currently filled, and how often are relief staff used?
- 02How will you learn and use my relative's preferred ways of communicating choices or showing that they are unhappy?
- 03How will my relative be supported to follow their interests and take part in activities in the community?
- 04How are medicines checked and recorded, and how are individual preferences followed?
- 05How can my relative and our family raise a complaint, including if my relative cannot communicate it verbally?
This was an unannounced comprehensive inspection covering all five CQC questions and the overall rating, and the Good ratings remained unchanged from the previous inspection. This explanation was written from the published report of 30 August 2018 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 Saxon Close
2 rated inspections over 3 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- August 2018Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- February 2016GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- November 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- January 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2011
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 23 March 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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At least 100 live-in carers within about an hour of Central Bedfordshire
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Most charge £980 to £1,260 a week. 83 can care for a couple. 12 years' experience on average.
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