CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at The Dovecote Residential Care Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- Inspectors found that risks were assessed and reviewed, staffing was sufficient and medicines were managed safely. The home was clean and incidents were reviewed so lessons could be learned.
- Effective?
- Good
- People's needs were assessed and staff had relevant training and supervision. People had genuine choice about food and staff worked with health professionals to support good health outcomes.
- Caring?
- Good
- People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect. They were involved in decisions about their care and were supported to be as independent as possible.
- Responsive?
- Outstanding
- Inspectors found exceptional personalised care. People were supported with hobbies, work, holidays, family relationships, local activities and personal goals.
- Well-led?
- Good
- The home had a positive and open culture, with quality checks and regular staff meetings. Inspectors noted that the support manager led the day-to-day running because the registered manager was not in day-to-day control.
What inspectors found, February 2020
Rated Good; inspectors found kind, safe care and exceptionally personalised support, with responsive care rated Outstanding.
This was an unannounced planned inspection on 24 October 2019. Three inspectors spoke with people living at the home, a relative and staff. They observed care and reviewed care plans, medicine records, staff files and management records.
The home was rated Good overall. Safe, Effective, Caring and Well-led were all rated Good. Inspectors found suitable staffing, safe medicines management, trained staff, good support with health needs and respectful care.
Responsive care was rated Outstanding. People were supported to follow their interests, keep relationships, use the local community and achieve personal goals. The home used creative communication and technology to support independence.
Personal goals
People were supported to identify and achieve their own dreams, including holidays, shopping and joining a football team.
“People were very much involved in identifying their dreams and were supported to accomplish them.” from the report
Activities and relationships
The home offered varied activities and helped people stay connected with family, friends and the local community.
“People were extremely well supported and received extensive opportunity to participate in a number of social activities relevant to their hobbies and interests that were meaningful to them.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
Inspectors saw warm relationships between people and staff. People were supported to make choices and maintain their independence.
“We observed some very caring and respectful interactions between people and staff.” from the report
Communication support
Staff used different communication methods and each person had information explaining how they communicated.
“Each person had a communication profile.” from the report
Safety systems
The home had systems to identify and manage risks, with staff who understood people's safety needs.
“The provider had maintained effective systems to assess and manage known risks to people.” from the report
Day-to-day management
minorThe registered manager was not in day-to-day control of the home. The support manager was the main person running it with the staff team, although inspectors still rated the service Well-led Good.
“However, the registered manager was not in day to day control of the service as the support manager was the main person along with the staff that strove to ensure the good outcomes for people” from the report
- 01How is day-to-day responsibility divided between the registered manager and the support manager?
- 02How will you make sure my relative's personal goals, hobbies and community activities are recorded and reviewed?
- 03How will staff communicate with my relative if they use limited speech, body language or pictures?
- 04How are risks reviewed when someone wants to go out independently or take part in activities?
- 05How will my relative and our family be involved in care plan reviews and decisions?
This was an unannounced planned inspection covering all five CQC questions and the overall quality of the care and premises. This explanation was written from the published report of 19 February 2020 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, April 2017
Rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with a small medicines-record issue to address.
Inspectors visited unannounced on 14 March 2017. They spoke with people living at the home, relatives and staff. They reviewed care plans, staff recruitment records and records about how the home was run. They also observed care and activities.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines support, suitable staff training and good support with health, nutrition and decision-making.
People were treated with dignity and respect. Staff knew people well and supported their choices, interests and independence. The home had a positive atmosphere, and people and relatives were involved in care planning and service meetings.
The inspectors noted that some handwritten medicines records had not always been signed by two staff to confirm their accuracy. The registered manager said this would be checked through audits. The home remained rated Good, as it was at the previous inspection in November 2015.
Safe staffing and care
Inspectors found enough staff to meet people's needs. Staff understood people's risks and responded to requests promptly.
“People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff and recruitment processes ensured staff were suitable for the role.” from the report
Respectful relationships
Staff knew people as individuals and treated them with warmth, dignity and respect. People were supported to make choices and have private space.
“It was evident throughout our visit that positive, supportive and friendly relationships had developed between people who lived at the service and staff.” from the report
Personalised support
Care plans reflected people's needs, preferences and goals. Staff supported different interests, including gardening, church, learning and social activities.
“Each person living at the service had a range of care plans which had been developed in conjunction with them to provide staff with information about the person's individual care and support needs.” from the report
Good involvement
People and relatives were involved in care planning and reviews. Their views were also sought through meetings and surveys.
“People and their relatives were also involved in the running of the service via an annual survey.” from the report
Positive management
The home had an open culture where people, relatives and staff felt able to raise concerns or make suggestions. Quality checks and audits were in place.
“The service had a welcoming and positive atmosphere and an open culture.” from the report
Medicines records
needs fixingSome handwritten medicines administration entries had not always been signed by two staff to confirm the information was accurate. The registered manager said this would be added to audit checks.
“We spoke to the registered manager about handwritten entries on people's medicines administration records which had not always been signed by two staff to ensure the accuracy of information.” from the report
- 01What checks are now made to ensure handwritten medicines administration records are signed by two staff?
- 02How are my relative's care plan and goals reviewed with them and their family?
- 03How will staff support my relative's communication needs and preferred way of making choices?
- 04What activities and opportunities for independence are currently available to residents?
- 05How can residents and relatives raise concerns, and how are complaints followed up?
This was an unannounced inspection covering all five key questions, and the report says the overall rating remained Good from the previous inspection in November 2015. This explanation was written from the published report of 28 April 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 The Dovecote Residential Care Home
3 rated inspections over 4 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- February 2020Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: OutstandingWell-led: Good
Read what inspectors found at The Dovecote Residential Care Home →
- April 2017Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
Read what inspectors found at The Dovecote Residential Care Home →
- December 2015GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- October 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2013
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 27 November 2013.
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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