CQC report explained · a residential care home, run by North Bay Group
Alexandra Court Care Centre
340 Southcoates Lane, Hull, HU9 3TR
Rated Requires improvement: inspectors found the service was not performing as well as it should and told it what to change.
What inspectors found, January 2024
Alexandra Court Care Centre was rated Requires Improvement; inspectors found risks in safeguarding, staffing, records and access to drinks.
This was a focused inspection following concerns about staffing, falls, food and drink, and person-centred care. Inspectors visited on 31 October, 2 November and 8 November 2023. They spoke with people, relatives, staff and healthcare professionals, observed care and checked records.
The home was not always safe or effective. Safeguarding concerns were not always reported properly. Some communal areas were left without staff, care plans and risk assessments were incomplete, and drinks were not always available when people needed them. Food and fluid records were also not always accurate.
There were positive findings. Medicines were administered safely, staff recruitment checks were completed, the home was clean and well maintained, and staff received training and support. Staff also made appropriate referrals to healthcare professionals and supported people to have visitors.
The overall rating fell from Good at the previous inspection to Requires Improvement. Safe, Effective and Well-led were rated Requires Improvement. Caring and Responsive were not inspected in this visit, so their previous ratings were used when calculating the overall rating.
Safe medicines
Inspectors found that medicines were administered as prescribed and that storage, administration and recording systems were in place.
“People's medicines were administered safely, and staff responded appropriately to accidents and incidents.” from the report
Staff checks and training
The home completed appropriate recruitment checks. Staff received induction, regular training, supervision and development opportunities.
“Staff received an induction which included shadowing experienced staff and completed regular training appropriate for their role.” from the report
Healthcare support
Staff made referrals when needed and worked with healthcare professionals. Inspectors received positive feedback about the timeliness of referrals and staff following advice.
“The management team and staff engaged with healthcare professionals about people's needs to promote good outcomes.” from the report
Clean and maintained home
The home was generally clean and well maintained. Personal protective equipment was available and used when needed.
“The home had a good standard of cleanliness.” from the report
Safeguarding reports
seriousSeveral incidents had not been referred to the local authority safeguarding team. Inspectors said this placed people at risk of harm and abuse.
“The failure to ensure safeguarding systems and processes were operated effectively placed people at risk of harm and abuse.” from the report
Staff availability
seriousCommunal areas were sometimes left without staff. People, relatives and staff raised concerns about delays in answering buzzers.
“However, multiple times during the inspection, communal areas were not staffed which meant at times there were no staff available to manage risks and support people when they needed assistance.” from the report
Care records
needs fixingSome care plans and risk assessments were missing, inaccurate or conflicting. This could make it harder for staff, including agency staff, to understand people's needs.
“Care plans and risk assessments were not always accurate or detailed and some were not in place.” from the report
Food and drinks
needs fixingSome people waited a long time for drinks, and records of food and fluid intake were not always accurate. Care plans also contained conflicting information about some people's diets.
“Drinks were not always available to people when they needed them.” from the report
Quality checks and notifications
seriousThe home's checks had not identified or fixed all the problems found. Not all incidents that should have been reported to CQC were notified.
“The provider's systems had failed to ensure all notifiable incidents were reported to CQC.” from the report
- 01What has changed to make sure safeguarding concerns are reported to the local authority and all notifiable incidents are reported to CQC?
- 02How do you decide how many staff are needed on each floor, and how do you check that communal areas are staffed throughout the day?
- 03What is the current waiting time for answering buzzers, and how do you monitor this?
- 04How have you corrected missing or conflicting care plans and risk assessments, including those used by agency staff?
- 05How do you make sure drinks are available and food and fluid records are accurate?
This was a focused inspection of Safe and Well-led, later widened to include Effective; Caring and Responsive were not inspected and their previous ratings carried over. This explanation was written from the published report of 17 January 2024 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 Alexandra Court Care Centre
5 rated inspections over 4 years: the service has improved, from Inadequate to Requires improvement.
- January 2024Requires improvementcurrent ratingdown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- April 2022Goodup from Requires improvementSafe: GoodWell-led: Good
- September 2021Requires improvementstayed Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement
- March 2020Requires improvementup from InadequateSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement
- July 2019InadequateSafe: InadequateEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Inadequate
- February 2019
Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 5 February 2019.
Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission. A service can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections, not every contact the CQC has had with the service.
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