Kingswood Court Care Home

This report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) provides an independent assessment of Kingswood Court Care Home following an inspection in February 2019. It details how the home performs across five key areas: safety, effectiveness, caring, responsiveness, and leadership. The inspection aimed to ensure the service is meeting regulatory standards and providing high-quality care. This summary highlights the key findings from the inspection to help families understand the home's strengths and areas for ongoing development.

Regarding safety, residents feel secure due to the compassionate care provided by staff, who understand their roles in preventing harm and abuse. Staffing levels are sufficient to meet resident needs, and recruitment processes are thorough, ensuring suitability. While medication management is generally safe, there was an identified focus on improving record accuracy. Infection control processes are good overall, though minor improvements were noted regarding daily cleaning logs for equipment and a more consistent approach to washing medicine pots. The home actively learns from incidents to improve safety.

In terms of how effective the care is, residents' outcomes are consistently better than expected. The home actively embraces innovative technology, such as specialised lighting to aid sleep patterns and UV-C sanitisers for hygiene, enhancing residents' well-being. Door sensor technology promotes independence by allowing free access to gardens. Assessments are thorough, ensuring all needs are met before admission and that legal requirements are addressed. Staff demonstrate an excellent understanding of nutrition, making mealtimes enjoyable and accommodating individual preferences, with a focus on providing desired foods and drinks. The environment is being adapted to be more dementia-friendly, with ongoing upgrades and thoughtful changes to improve daily living.

The service is caring, with residents, their relatives, and healthcare professionals consistently praising the kindness and competence of the staff. Residents feel safe and well-looked after, with staff often described as compassionate and understanding. Activities are well-organised and varied, supporting residents' mental and physical well-being, and respecting their faiths. Families are welcome to visit at any time, and community groups contribute to residents' happiness.

In terms of being responsive, the home actively seeks and acts upon feedback from residents and their families to make significant improvements to the environment and accessibility. This includes creating quiet spaces for families and increasing parking availability. The home is decorated to feel homely, with ongoing upgrades to better meet the needs of residents with dementia, such as using coloured toilet seats for better visibility.

The service is exceptionally well-led, with a management team that strongly promotes the provider's ethos and values. Staff and residents feel nurtured and cared for, with a strong commitment to valuing individuals and supporting their independence and well-being. The leadership is transparent and actively engaged with residents and staff. There is a clear focus on staff development, with robust training and an innovative appraisal system that drives continuous improvement. The home has a passionate commitment to providing the best possible care, underpinned by strong quality assurance systems and a proactive approach to learning and implementing best practices.