St Clair House

Updated 24 February 2023

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

St Clair House Limited is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and we looked at both during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We notified the registered manager 24 hours before due to the inspection being undertaken outside normal working hours. We needed to be sure essential staff would be available and there was full access to records. We visited the service on the 28 January and 1 February 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We also reviewed information that we held about the service such as notifications. These are events that happen in the service that the provider is required to tell us about. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, 8 staff, 4 residents and 3 visitors. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records. We checked 3 people’s medicines records and looked at arrangements for administering, storing and managing medicines. We looked at 2 staff recruitment files. We looked at records in relation to staff training and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures.

Updated 24 February 2023

St Clair House is a residential care home providing personal care to up to 25 people. The service provides support to people requiring care and support. Some people were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

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

The provider had systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and people told us they felt safe.

Risk assessments were completed to help identify and minimise risks to people. Staff had been recruited safely and there were enough staff to respond to people's needs. Systems to manage medicines were judged as being safe.

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.

Incidents and accidents were managed safely. The registered manager took necessary action to keep people safe and minimise the risk of reoccurrence. Steps were taken to learn lessons if things went wrong.

Health and safety checks of the environment and equipment were in place. There were certificates in place to support this. Systems were in place to support people in the event of an emergency.

We looked at infection prevention and control and found we were assured that the provider was protecting people, staff and visitors from the risk of infection.

Staff told us they had received the training they needed to meet people’s needs safely and effectively. The training matrix tracked staff training, and this helped ensure all staff received the training and updates needed to provide safe consistent care.

Staff were supported in their roles through a plan of supervision. Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and senior staff .

The management team maintained oversight of complaints, accidents and incidents and safeguarding concerns. The management team engaged well with health and social care professionals.

The systems in place to monitor the quality of care within the service were effective. The registered manager promoted a positive person-centred culture and fully understood their responsibilities as a registered manager.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

We registered this service on 7 January 2021 and this was the first inspection. The previous provider rating for this service was good published (20 December 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St Clair House Limited our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.