Purley Gardens Care Home

The service has been re-registered with the Care Quality Commission [CQC] and this is their first assessment since being taken over as a going concern by a new provider. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good [published 4 July 2018].

The service is dual registered with the CQC which means they are owned and managed by two separate entities.

This comprehensive assessment was undertaken looking at all quality statements under the 5 key questions. It was conducted due to the length of time since their last assessment and emerging risk and because we received information of concern about the quality and safety of the service people who lived there received. Following this assessment, the service remains rated good overall.

However, we identified concerns in relation to how the care home was managed which had been inconsistent in recent year due to the high levels of management turnover. The care home remains without a registered manager, although a new permanent manager has now been appointed, along with a new deputy manager, and an acting manager is currently in day-to-day charge as an interim measure. Staff consistently described not feeling supported, valued or listened to when the previous manager [registered] had led the care home. Staff explained the manager [registered] at that time had not fostered a positive culture where they felt confident about speaking up and having their opinions taken seriously which had negatively impacted upon their morale and wellbeing.

In addition, we identified other multiple concerns in relation to the effectiveness of how the provider operated their governance systems which they had failed to pick up and/or address. This included how staff were deployed within the care home, had their overall work performance appraised, the care homes environment not being suitably decorated and adapted to meet the needs of people living with dementia, and care plans not always containing up to date and accurate information. We discussed all these issues with senior managers at the time of our assessment who agreed a develop and send us an improvement plan setting out the action they were taking or planned to take to address our concerns.

The comments described above notwithstanding people living in the care home, their relatives, community-based care professionals and staff working there were confident the new management team could improve the care home. We discussed these issues with senior managers at the time of our assessment who agreed to send us an improvement plan setting out the action they were taking or planned to take to address our concerns.

Staff understood and managed risks well. The facilities and equipment met people’s needs, were kept clean. Staff managed medicines safely. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and were suitably trained.

People participated in assessments and decisions about the care they received. Care plans were personalised, flexible and updated in response to changes in the person’s needs. Staff adapted support quickly should people become unwell. People had enough to eat and drink to stay healthy. Staff always supported people to fully maximise their independence, choice and control. Staff enabled people to give informed consent.

Staff treated people with kindness and compassion, and respected individuals’ privacy and dignity. People were treated as individuals and had their preferences and choices respected. Staff understood how people preferred to communicate and ensured essential information they needed was available in easy to understand and accessible formats.