Safety and leadership were identified as two areas which could be improved at a Bricket Wood care home, following a 'requires improvement' rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Allington Court Care Home, in Lye Lane, received its new rating on January 17, following an inspection on November 13, 2023.
The provider was rated 'good' in three of the five areas assessed by the CQC, including Effective, Caring and Responsive.
However, Safe and Well-led were judged as requires improvement following the visit.
Regarding safety, the CQC's report read: "We found one person's risk assessment highlighted the need for them to have fluids thickened.
"Despite the daily records indicating the fluids were thickened, at the time of the inspection the person had been given two drinks that where not thickened, this put the person at risk of aspiration.
"We found where people had epilepsy, the care plans indicated immediate actions to take when the person had a seizure, however further consideration needed to be taken about how to manage wider risks to the person."
Regarding leadership, the report continued: "Managers completed quality audits which covered all aspects of care, and filtered through to an action plan.
"The management team had highlighted some of the areas we identified for improvements, however, some of these audits did not identify failings in the quality of care.
"For example, identifying areas of improvement with assessing risks, mitigating risks, restrictive practice and medicine management."
When approached for comment, the managing director for the Bupa-ran care home, Stewart Kyle, explained the setting's willingness to improve.
He said: “We are committed to providing high quality care and services for our residents, and are pleased to be rated as ‘good’ by the CQC in three out of five inspection areas.
"We were also pleased that inspectors noted that our residents feel safe and well supported by our team.
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“We are committed to driving improvements at the home and have already addressed the CQC’s recommendations following their inspection in November 2023.
"We regularly review our residents’ care plans to ensure we are always reflecting their preferences and choices, and have also strengthened our record keeping.
“We are proud of the care our people give to our residents every day to keep them healthy, happy and safe in our care.”
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