OSJCT Seymour House

Updated 25 December 2020

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 was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector. We were joined on the inspection by a specialist health protection nurse from the local authority. This was to reduce the burden on staff of having multiple visits during a COVID-19 outbreak.

Notice of inspection

This inspection took place on 8 December 2020 and was announced.

Service and service type

OSJCT Seymour House 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and used information the provider had sent us in statutory notifications. We used all of this information to help plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We were given a tour of the home by the peripatetic operations manager. Due to the number of staff affected with positive COVID-19 tests, the home was operating with minimal staffing numbers. Because of this, we did not take staff away from caring duties to speak with them during our visit. We reviewed staff training completion statistics, risk assessments for vulnerable staff, and also policies relating to safe working practices.

After the inspection

We requested and were sent documentation about cleaning schedules and completion. We were also provided with assurances that action had been taken to address the areas of concern highlighted during the visit.

Updated 25 December 2020

About the service

OSJCT Seymour House is a residential care home providing personal care without nursing for up to 42 older people. At the time of the inspection 39 people were living at the home. Some people had limited verbal communication, so we captured some of their experiences through observations.

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

People told us they were happy living at the home and they felt safe. All people were comfortable in the presence of staff. People and relatives were positive about how safe their family members were. Medicines were administered and managed safely. Risks had been identified with ways to mitigate them in place.

Systems were in place to audit the service and when issues were identified they had been resolved. The management strove to be open and continually develop and improve the support people were receiving. They were aware of their responsibility to notify the Care Quality Commission of certain events in line with their statutory obligations.

People were supported by enough staff to meet their needs. Although staff levels had not always been good, so the management were working hard to resolve this. Staff had received a range of training and good induction when they started.

People had care plans which were personalised and provided a range of information for staff to use to support their needs and wishes. There were good links with other health and social care professionals to meet the needs of people living at the home.

Staff were kind and caring and knew the people living at the home well. Staff respected privacy and dignity throughout the inspection. Although one practice observed at the beginning of meal times could be improved. Links had been developed within the wider community which had a positive impact for people. Independence was promoted, as were the values of treating each person as an individual.

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.

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)

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 14 December 2018). There were multiple breaches of regulation in relation to medicine management, risk assessing, notifying the Care Quality Commission and quality assurance of the service. Concerns were also raised about how personalised care plans were.

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 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.