Cliff Court Care Home

Updated 22 August 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Cliff Court care home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We sought information form the local authority who have contact with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke to five people that used the service and three relatives about their experience and the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager who was also the provider, senior care workers, care workers and the chef. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records including six people’s care plans and multiple medicine records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We looked at a variety of records that related to the management of the service including accidents and incidents, complaints and compliments and audit processes. We looked at training records and supervision records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification form the provider to validate the evidence found. We spoke with three professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 22 August 2019

About the service

Cliff Court care home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 16 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 18 people. Cliff Court care home specialises in looking after people living with dementia. Cliff Court care home is a large detached property split over two floors.

People’s experience of using the service and what we found

People were protected from risk of harm and abuse and staff knew what action to take if they had any concerns. Cliff Court care home was clean, tidy and free from unpleasant odours. There were enough staff working at Cliff Court care home and staff had been recruited safely. Staff understood risk and the need to update care plans and risk assessments with any changes to a person’s support needs. People were supported to take their medicines.

Staff received training relevant to the people they cared for. They were supported with ongoing supervision by the registered manager. People’s health and wellbeing needs were met and they were supported to access health and social care professionals. People’s dietary needs were assessed and people were offered a range of healthy, freshly prepared food each day. Staff sought consent from people. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. A professional told us, “People have varying degrees of dementia, but everyone is treated fairly, they are never rushed. It’s a very caring home.”

People were treated with respect, compassion and kindness. Staff understood people’s care and support needs and knew what was important to them. People were supported to make their own decisions each day. People’s privacy, dignity and independence were supported.

People’s support was person centred, staff knew people well. A variety of activities were offered each day and people were given the choice to take part or not. A complaints policy and process were in place and people and relatives were confident in raising issues. Complaints were thoroughly investigated.

The registered manager knew people well. She said, “It’s their home. I want them to be happy.” Systems were in place to audit processes to ensure an effective oversight of the service. Cliff Court care home had links with the local community.

Rating at last inspection

Good. (Report published 29 November 2016)

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk