Historically troubled care home ‘absolutely honoured’ to scoop Good rating

A Windsor care and nursing home which was rated Required improvement two years in a row has turned it around under its new operator.

Queens Court, based in Dedworth Road, cares for about 60 people at the moment. Most people there are living with dementia.

It is run by two companies: Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd and Care UK Care Services Limited, formerly having been run by Central and Cecil Housing Trust.

Queens Court was last inspected in 2018 – so the care watchdog thought it was high time they inspected it again. It was also responding to 'concerns received' about the home.

Previously, the care home scored a ‘Requires improvement’ overall grade, due to issues with its safety and effectiveness.

Though it was rated Good in all other areas, it breached one of the Health and Social Care Act regulations.

The first thing that inspectors noted at that time is that there was no registered manager of the home.

A major concern was that management of medicines at Queens Court was not safe. Medicines were not ordered in time from the GP and the community pharmacy.

Records were incomplete, missing or damaged, and relatives said they didn’t have enough information. Any medication mistakes were also not always recorded correctly at that time.

Medicines were also stored in places that were too warm and were not always disposed of properly.

However, Queens Court has turned around and was rated Good across the board after its inspection in August this year, published on October 17.

There was no mention of any of the prior concerns about medication management in the new report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The CQC wrote in its report that people in the home ‘received safe and effective care’ and were protected from the risk of avoidable harm.

There were good systems to protect people from the risk of infection and cross-contamination and staff followed good practice. The service was also ‘clean, fresh and well-maintained.’

There were systems in place for the safe recruitment of staff. They received regular training and had their competencies checked.

Staff spoke favourably of the management team and felt listened to and consulted. The provider’s monitoring systems were effective.

People and their relatives were involved in their pre-admission assessment, care planning and the management of individual risks.

Residents told the CQC they were happy living at the service and were treated with kindness by the staff.

One person said: “I don’t think you will find anyone here who is lonely. The carers and all the staff are really lovely.”

Another said: “I must say the staff here are very good and they are all getting to know me, what I like and what I want.”

Residents also said that they felt safe and well looked after.

One person told the CQC, “I always feel safe here. There is always someone around if I need them.”

Bozena Szczepaniak, home manager at Queen’s Court, said the team was ‘absolutely honoured’ by the rating.

She said it was ‘great to see’ that the CQC had recognised that it places ‘such a focus on activities and events.

“I’d like to say a big thank you to the entire team, from our nurses and unit leads to chefs and gardeners, for making Queen’s Court a place residents are proud to call home,” she said.