The Sloane Nursing Home

Updated 19 June 2019

The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team: The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an expert-by-experience on the first day of the inspection. An expert by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. One inspector attended the service on the second day of the inspection.

Service and service type: The Sloane Nursing Home is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a 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: This inspection site visit took place on 29 April and 3 May 2019 and was unannounced.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must tell us about, such as any safeguarding alerts they had raised. The provider also completed a provider information return. This is information we require providers to send to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We contacted the local authority who commissions the service to ask for their views. We used this information to help inform our inspection planning.

During the inspection we spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, nursing and care staff, the chef, the homes administrator, house keepers and the maintenance manager. We spoke with six people using the service and three visiting relatives. During this inspection we also 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 five people’s care plans and records and staff recruitment and training records. We also reviewed records used in managing the service for example, policies and procedures, monitoring records and minutes of meetings.

Updated 19 June 2019

About the service: The Sloane Nursing Home is located in Beckenham, Kent and provides accommodation with nursing care and support for up to 33 people living with dementia, and or physical poor health. The home also provides respite and end of life care. At the time of our inspection 33 people were living at the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People spoke positively about the service and said staff were caring and supportive. Throughout our inspection we observed staff interacted with people, had good relationships with individuals and staff were kind and empathetic in their approach.

The service had safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures and how to keep people safe. People's needs, and preferences were assessed and where risks were identified, plans were in place to manage risks safely.

There were safe arrangements in place to manage medicines and staff followed appropriate infection control practices to prevent the spread of infections.

Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were sufficient staff available to meet people's needs promptly. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. Staff were appropriately supported through induction, training and regular supervision.

People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet that met their expressed cultural and dietary requirements. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People told us staff treated them in a kind, caring and respectful manner. People were involved in and consulted about their care and support needs. People had access to health and social care professionals as required. People were supported to participate in activities of their choosing, that met their needs and interests.

Staff worked with people to promote their rights and understood the Equality Act 2010, supporting people appropriately addressing any protected characteristics.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. The service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals and other organisations to plan and deliver an effective service. The service took people and staff’s views into account through surveys and informal feedback to help drive service improvements.

Rating at last inspection and update: The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 1 June 2018) and there was a breach of Regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We found the service had improved and now met the characteristics of Good in all areas.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit in line with our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect the service sooner.

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