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CQC report explained · a residential care home, run by Excelcare Holdings

Ashlyn Care Home

Vicarage Wood, Harlow, CM20 3HD

Goodpublished 9 December 2023, 2 years ago

Rated Good: inspectors found the service performing well and meeting their expectations.

The five questions inspectors ask
Safe?
Good
Inspectors found people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm. Risks, medicines, staffing and infection control were managed safely.
Effective?
Good
This key question was not assessed in this inspection report.
Caring?
Good
This key question was not assessed in this inspection report, although inspectors observed attentive staff and received positive feedback from people and relatives.
Responsive?
Good
This key question was not assessed in this inspection report. Inspectors noted that activities, especially at weekends, did not always have enough staff support.
Well-led?
Good
Inspectors found effective quality checks, a positive culture and good communication with staff, relatives and outside professionals.
The latest report, explained

What inspectors found, December 2023

Ashlyn Care Home was rated Good; inspectors found safe, caring support and strong management, but activities were sometimes limited at weekends.

This was an unannounced inspection on 1 November 2023. Inspectors observed care, spoke with people, relatives, staff and a visiting professional, and checked care records, medicines records, staff files and quality checks.

The home was rated Good overall. Safe and Well-led were both rated Good. Inspectors found enough suitably recruited staff, safe medicines procedures, good infection control and effective management of risks.

People and relatives spoke positively about the staff and the culture of the home. Staff knew people well, supported people to make choices and responded when concerns were raised. Improvements were also being made to the environment for people living with dementia.

The inspection looked only at Safe and Well-led. The other three key question ratings were not given in this report. The previous overall rating was also Good, published on 25 April 2018.

What inspectors praised
  • Attentive staff

    Staff knew people well, worked confidently together and responded promptly to call bells.

    Staff were attentive to people's needs. Call bells were answered promptly.from the report
  • Safe medicines

    Medicines were stored safely, records were accurate and staff had their training and competence checked.

    People were supported to receive their medicines safely and as prescribed.from the report
  • Good risk management

    The home used personalised risk plans and learned from incidents and complaints to improve safety.

    Monitoring information, such as body maps were used to support senior staff to learn any lessons and improve safety for people.from the report
  • Dementia-friendly changes

    The home was improving bedrooms and corridors to help people living with dementia find their rooms and receive stimulation.

    Corridors were decorated with familiar murals and tactile objects to provide stimulation.from the report
  • Open management

    Managers used meetings, audits and discussions with relatives and professionals to monitor care and make improvements.

    The provider had created a learning culture at the service which improved the care people received.from the report
What inspectors were concerned about
  • Activities at weekends

    needs fixing

    People and relatives said there were sometimes not enough staff at weekends to provide stimulating activities. Inspectors said management had started to address this and that it was improving.

    However, they told us sometimes, particularly at weekends, there were not enough staff to provide stimulating activities.from the report
Questions to ask them, based on this report
  1. 01What activities are available at weekends, and how many staff are allocated to support them?
  2. 02What changes have been completed to improve the environment for people living with dementia?
  3. 03How is the new manager's application to become the registered manager progressing?
  4. 04How are concerns from relatives recorded, discussed and followed up?
  5. 05How are incidents, complaints and care reviews used to change people's care?

This inspection covered Safe and Well-led only; ratings for Effective, Caring and Responsive were not given in this report. This explanation was written from the published report of 9 December 2023 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.

The story over the years

Every inspection of Ashlyn Care Home

4 rated inspections over 7 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.

  1. December 2023Goodcurrent ratingstayed Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read what inspectors found at Ashlyn Care Home

  2. April 2018Goodup from Inadequate
    Safe: GoodWell-led: Good

    We are reading this report · the original is on cqc.org.uk

  3. September 2017Inadequatedown from Good
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: InadequateWell-led: Inadequate

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  4. July 2016Good
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  5. May 2014

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  6. October 2013

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  7. March 2013

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  8. January 2013

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  9. April 2012

    Report published without a new overall rating.

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  10. November 2010

    Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 24 November 2010.

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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