CQC report explained · a residential care home, run by Excelcare Holdings
Ashlyn Care Home
Vicarage Wood, Harlow, CM20 3HD
Rated Good: inspectors found the service performing well and meeting their expectations.
- 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.
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.
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
Activities at weekends
needs fixingPeople 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
- 01What activities are available at weekends, and how many staff are allocated to support them?
- 02What changes have been completed to improve the environment for people living with dementia?
- 03How is the new manager's application to become the registered manager progressing?
- 04How are concerns from relatives recorded, discussed and followed up?
- 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.
Every inspection of Ashlyn Care Home
4 rated inspections over 7 years: the service has held its Good rating throughout.
- December 2023Goodcurrent ratingstayed GoodSafe: GoodEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- April 2018Goodup from InadequateSafe: GoodWell-led: Good
- September 2017Inadequatedown from GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: InadequateWell-led: Inadequate
- July 2016GoodSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good
- May 2014
Report published without a new overall rating.
- October 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- March 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- January 2013
Report published without a new overall rating.
- April 2012
Report published without a new overall rating.
- 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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