Oakhurst Lodge

Here is a summary for the Oakhurst Lodge care home card on your website, based on the CQC inspection report.

This summary provides an overview of the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection findings for Oakhurst Lodge, aimed at helping families understand the service's current performance across key areas. The report details the findings of an inspection conducted on May 17-18, 2023, and focuses on how well the home supports individuals with learning disabilities and autism, particularly in relation to principles of "Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture."

On safety, inspectors found that people were not consistently protected from avoidable harm. This included issues with risk assessments, incident management, and ensuring staff had the correct training for advanced safety interventions. There were also concerns about the storage of cleaning products and inconsistent monitoring of hot water temperatures, posing potential health risks. Safeguarding processes were not always effective, with some allegations of abuse not being thoroughly investigated or escalated promptly.

In terms of how effective the care is, the service needs improvement in ensuring people have consistent support for periods of distress, with plans lacking completeness and sometimes containing inaccuracies. Staff were not always consistently supported to make decisions according to best practice. While people could access healthcare and the environment was generally well-maintained, there were gaps in risk assessments, particularly concerning the complex needs of residents and communication methods.

Regarding how caring the service is, the culture within the home was described as kind and caring, with staff being passionate about their work. Staff were recruited safely, and relatives generally felt their family members were safe. However, some relatives raised concerns about the mix of residents impacting safety, and staff sometimes felt overwhelmed by the complexity of behaviours.

In relation to how responsive the service is, while staff enabled people to access local healthcare services, there was a need for more consistent support for people to have fulfilling and meaningful everyday lives, including regular access to activities. Planned community support hours were not always fully utilised, and there were limitations on the types of community trips facilitated due to staffing capacity and driver availability.

Finally, concerning how well-led the service is, governance processes were in place but not fully effective, leading to standards falling below required levels in several areas. While managers had identified some areas for improvement and were taking action, such as changing lock types on cupboards and arranging for nurse reviews of risk assessments, there were systemic issues in risk management and oversight that required urgent attention to ensure consistent quality and safety for residents.