Archived: Fauld House Nursing Home

Updated 4 September 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. This inspection was planned to check 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 conducted by an inspector.

Service and service type:

Fauld House Nursing 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:

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection:

Our inspection was informed by information we already held about the service. We sought feedback from partner agencies and professionals. We also checked for feedback we received from the local authority and health care professionals. In May 2019 representatives from the local authority's quality assurance team conducted an inspection and produced a report identifying some safety concerns seen at that inspection. This report was used in preparation for the inspection and is referred to within the 'Safe' section of this CQC report.

Our plan also took into account information the provider sent us since the last inspection. We also considered information about matters the provider must notify us about, such as events involving injury and alleged abuse.

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 helped support our inspection.

During the inspection:

We visited the home and met the registered manager, three nurses including the home's clinical lead, activities coordinator and care staff. We spoke with a representative of the provider towards the conclusion of the inspection to provide feedback. We also spoke with people and their relatives. We reviewed four care records and policies and procedures. We considered four staff recruitment and personnel files and other records about the management of the service. We also completed a review of the safety of the environment of the home which included looking at people's bedrooms and communal areas.

After the inspection:

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to corroborate evidence we found.

Updated 4 September 2019

About the service:

Fauld House Nursing Home is a residential care home that was providing personal and nursing care to 45 people aged 60 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 48 people. The home accommodates people across two separate floors, each of which has separate adapted facilities and lift. Some of the people living in the home had a diagnosis of early stage dementia. The home is situated in the village of Tutbury near to Burton-Upon-Trent in Staffordshire.

People's experience of using this service and what we found:

Although people were supported to be safe, there were recording issues with some aspects of the care and support including the application of creams. We established that no one had come to harm but this could cause confusion to staff and visiting healthcare professionals. We have made a recommendation about this that can be seen in the 'Safe' section of this report.

People said that they felt safe. Staff received safeguarding training and had a good understanding of the principals involved in acting when abuse was suspected.

Save for some issues with the recording of the administering of creams, medicines were managed safely and this meant that people received their medicines as prescribed by healthcare professionals.

Staff told us they received good support from senior staff, including nurses and the registered manager. We did note that most of the checks and audits at the home were completed by the registered manager. There was an absence of documented input by others including nursing staff and provider. We also noted that whilst the registered manager was unavailable during the early part of 2019, insufficient support and oversight had been provided. This had led to insufficient progress around improvements that were required after an inspection by the quality assurance team of the local authority in March 2019. We have made a recommendation about this that can be seen in the 'Well-led' section of this report.

People's needs were met through assessments and support planning. The service worked with healthcare and social professionals to achieve positive outcomes for people. Staff had good knowledge and skills and this ensured people's needs were well met.

The provider had a recruitment process but some checks had not always been completed before staff started work. This was resolved after the inspection. Any issues with staff were dealt with promptly using a fair and thorough disciplinary process.

People's needs were met through robust assessments and support planning. The service worked with healthcare and social professionals to achieve positive outcomes for people. Staff and carers had good knowledge and skills and this ensured people's needs were well met. We saw good examples of when people had been supported to maintain a healthy and balanced diet.

People told us carers and staff were compassionate and kind and during the inspection, we observed this to be the case. Management and staff knew people well. 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 received care and support that was person-centred. We saw examples of how the care and support people received enriched their lives through meaningful activities. The service had a robust complaints policy.

The values and culture embedded in the service ensured people were safe and at the heart of the care and support they received. The registered manager and nursing staff planned and promoted holistic, person-centred, high-quality care resulting in good outcomes for people. People knew how to feedback their experiences and this was considered and acted upon by the registered manager.

There was an end of life policy in place that could be used if appropriate. Staff members had been trained around this and were able to ensure best practice was applied during times when people were at the end of life.

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

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 22 February 2017).

Why we inspected:

We carried out this inspection based on the previous rating of the service.

Follow up:

We will continue to review information we receive about the service until we return to visit as part of our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.