CQC report explained · a residential care home
What the CQC found at Tower House Residential Home
Rated Good: inspectors found the home performing well and meeting their expectations.
- Safe?
- Good
- Inspectors were assured that the home was using PPE safely, supporting shielding and social distancing, arranging testing, maintaining hygiene and managing infection outbreaks. This was a targeted infection prevention and control inspection, not a full assessment of safety.
- Effective?
- Good
- Does the care work? Training, consent, food and drink, working with GPs and nurses.
- Caring?
- Good
- Are people treated with kindness and dignity?
- Responsive?
- Good
- Is care built around the person? Care plans, activities, complaints.
- Well-led?
- Good
- Is the home run well? The manager, the culture, how problems get found and fixed.
What inspectors found, March 2021
Tower House Residential Home was inspected but not rated; inspectors were assured that infection control arrangements were effective.
This was an announced, targeted inspection on 3 March 2021. It looked at how the home prevented and controlled infections during the coronavirus pandemic.
Inspectors were assured about visitors, social distancing, shielding, admissions, PPE, testing, hygiene, outbreak management and the infection control policy. Staff had completed infection prevention and control training.
The home had set up a separate visitors’ area for putting on and removing PPE, and PPE stations around the building. People were supported to contact relatives using electronic devices. No relatives could visit at the time because of the national lockdown.
The service was inspected but not rated. This means the inspection did not give an overall quality rating or a standard rating for each of the five questions.
Visitor infection controls
The home created a separate area where visitors could put on and remove PPE before entering. This was in place even though visits were stopped during the national lockdown.
“The provider had adapted its separate external conversatory to act as the visitors' area for donning and removing personal protective equipment (PPE), prior to any visitor entering the premises.” from the report
PPE access
PPE stations were placed around the home so staff could access them close to people’s rooms.
“PPE stations had been set up around the premises so staff did not have to walk long distances to don or remove PPE when caring for people in their own rooms.” from the report
Support for relatives
Technology was used to help people keep in touch with relatives while face-to-face visits were not possible.
“The provider had embraced technology to allow people to speak with relatives on electronic devices” from the report
Outbreak response
Inspectors found that the home had responded well to an outbreak in December 2020 and had asked the public health team for advice.
“The provider responded well to contain an outbreak in December 2020 and sought advice from the public health team.” from the report
Inspectors raised no specific concerns in this report.
- 01How are visits managed now, and what PPE or other infection control steps must visitors follow?
- 02How do you test people using the service and staff, and how quickly do you respond to positive results?
- 03What did the home learn from the December 2020 outbreak, and what would happen if another outbreak occurred?
- 04How do you support residents to contact relatives when face-to-face visits are not possible?
- 05When was the infection prevention and control policy last reviewed?
This was a targeted inspection of infection prevention and control, mainly under Safe; it did not provide a full overall rating or assess all five key questions. This explanation was written from the published report of 25 March 2021 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 2019
Tower House Residential Home was rated Good; inspectors found safe, kind and personalised care, with one concern about activities for a resident.
This was an unannounced inspection on 7 February 2019. Inspectors spoke with eight people, four visitors, six staff and a community nurse. They reviewed four care records, staff records and records about how the home was managed.
The home was rated Good in all five areas: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-led. Inspectors found enough staff, safe medicines practice, suitable risk assessments and clean surroundings.
People were supported to make choices and remain as independent as possible. Inspectors found kind and respectful staff, personalised care plans, support with food and healthcare, and effective systems for handling concerns and improving the service.
The home was also rated Good at its previous inspection, published on 27 August 2016. This was a planned inspection based on that earlier rating.
People felt safe
People and visitors said they felt safe. Staff understood how to report possible abuse and how to manage risks such as falls and distress.
“People told us they felt safe in the home.” from the report
Kind and respectful care
People were treated with kindness and their privacy, dignity, communication needs and personal preferences were respected.
“People were treated with kindness and were positive about the staff's caring attitude.” from the report
Personalised support
People helped shape their care plans and were supported to make choices and keep as much independence and control as possible.
“People were supported to make choices and have as much control and independence as possible, including in developing care plans.” from the report
Good management checks
The provider checked care records, medicines, staff files and staff practice. The results were used to plan improvements.
“The provider had effective quality assurance systems in place.” from the report
Activities for one resident
minorOne visitor said their relative rarely took part in organised activities. The provider said it would look at other activities that might interest the person.
“One visitor expressed concern that their relative rarely took part in the organised activities.” from the report
- 01What activities would you offer if my relative did not want to join the organised activities?
- 02How would you support my relative's particular dementia, mental health or other health needs?
- 03How often would you review my relative's care plan with them and their family?
- 04How would you respond if my relative's health or ability to make decisions changed?
- 05How do you use feedback from residents and families to make improvements?
This was an unannounced planned inspection that looked at the whole care home and assessed all five CQC questions. This explanation was written from the published report of 1 March 2019 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 Tower House Residential Home
2 rated inspections over 3 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- March 2021Inspected but not ratedcurrent ratingSafe: Inspected but not rated
Read what inspectors found at Tower House Residential Home →
- March 2019Goodstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
Read what inspectors found at Tower House Residential Home →
- August 2016GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- January 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- May 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- June 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- November 2011
Report published without a new overall rating.
- February 2011
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 17 February 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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