St Bartholomews Court Nursing Home

Updated 19 September 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 21, 25 June and 19 July 2018 and the first day was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An Expert by Experience has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses a health and social care service.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information that we had received from the registered provider which included statutory notifications, safeguarding alerts and information from other agencies.

During the inspection we spoke and spent time with 25 people who used the service, 10 staff, a GP and the registered manager. In addition, we spoke with seven visiting family members.

We looked at records relating to people's care and support needs, medicines records and people's care plans. In addition, we looked at records maintained in relation to the management of the service and policies and procedures.

Prior to the inspection the registered manager had completed a provider information return (PIR). This document gave the service the opportunity to tell us what they do well, areas of planned improvement and the services plans for the future.

We spoke to the local authority commissioning team who had recently carried out a review of the service. They had not identified any concerns and provided positive feedback about the service. In addition, we spoke with Knowsley Healthwatch who told us that they had no recent information relating to the service.

Updated 19 September 2018

St Bartholomews Court Nursing Home is a care home providing nursing care and support. The service is made up of two units. One unit provides nursing and personal care to people who live at the service. The second unit provides intermediate and rehabilitation for people being discharged from hospital or to prevent people being admitted to hospital. All bedrooms are situated on the ground floor of the building. The service can support up to 51 people. At the time of this inspection 46 people were using the service.

At our last inspection in December 2015 we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated Good.

Feedback provided from people included “I feel safe because there are plenty of staff around all of the time”, “The [staff] are lovely and you would think they had known me all my life” and “[Staff] are fantastic, very helpful, caring and friendly.” Family members also spoke positively about the service. Their comments included “My mum eats well and enjoys her food. She can eat herself but is always encouraged as she loses interest”, “My relative is supported with meals and this is done in a patient manner” and “My relative's life has been enhanced since moving to the home, she loves the company and all the staff.”

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

Procedures were in place to protect people from abuse and staff had a good understanding of these procedures. People’s medicines were safely managed to ensure that they received their medicines when they should.

Safe recruitment procedures remained in place to help ensure that only people suitable for the role were employed to deliver care and support to people.

People were supported by a staff team who received regular training for their role.

People’s dietary needs were met and people told us they enjoyed the meals that were provided. Local health care professionals were accessible to people when needed. People using the short term reablement service had access to health care professionals to plan and support with their recovery.

People told us they felt cared for, and that they were able to make choices about where they went around the service, the times they got up and went to bed and the meals they ate.

Individual care plans gave the opportunity to assess people’s needs and plan how their care was to be delivered. Specific care plans were available for use for people who were in receipt of end of life care. People had access to activities within the service to offer mental stimulation. A complaints procedure was in place which people and their family members had access to. People and their family members were asked for their views on the service.

Policies and procedures were in place to promote safe, effective care and support to people. Multi-agency working took place with the local Clinical Commissioning Group and hospital to ensure that people in receipt of short term reablement support had their needs met. Regular audits were carried out to ensure that people were in receipt of safe and effective care and support.