• Care Home
  • Care home

The Bill House

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

98 Grafton Road, Selsey, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 0JA (01243) 602567

Provided and run by:
Alexander Park Homes Limited

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 27 May 2021

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. We checked 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

The Bill 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 who was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. When they are registered, 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

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We had received information of concern in relation to the management of medicines. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and observed care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We spoke with five members of staff including the manager, deputy manager, a team leader, and two care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 27 May 2021

About the service

The Bill House is a residential care home in West Sussex providing personal care to 32 people living with a range of needs, including frailty of old age and dementia. The service can support up to 38 people.

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

Concerns had been raised to CQC with regard to some aspects of medicines management. For example, the manager had been unaware of the need to have a member of staff on duty at night who was trained to administer medicines. The manager did not have a clear understanding of when to notify CQC of any abuse or alleged abuse, and this was clarified with them at inspection.

Nevertheless, The Bill House provided a safe, caring environment for people. One person told us they were happy living at the home and of the kindness of staff. Risks had been assessed and actions were taken to mitigate risks. Staffing levels were sufficient to meet people’s needs and new staff were recruited safely. People received their medicines as prescribed.

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.

A robust system of audits had been implemented to measure and monitor the care people received, and to drive improvements. People’s diverse needs were recognised and catered for.

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 18 December 2019).

.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the management of medicines. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

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

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.