Sweyne Court Care Home

Updated 17 April 2020

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Sweyne Court 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 was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior care workers, care workers, the cook and housekeeper. We 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. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. 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 training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 17 April 2020

Sweyne Court is registered to provide accommodation and personal care without nursing for up to 43 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia. The service has two floors and there is access to these via a staircase and lift. On the day of our inspection the service was caring for 40 people.

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

People felt safe living in the service and had their belongings and finances protected. People’s relatives felt that the service was secure. There were processes in place to ensure that staff knew how to protect people from abuse and where to escalate concerns if they needed to which staff were aware of. People had their health and wellbeing assessed and risk assessments were individual to each person and based on their needs. Robust recruitment checks were in place for employing new members of staff. Medicines were managed safely.

Staff received training and development to be able to support people safely which included learning more about specific conditions related to the needs of the people who used the service such as dementia. People were supported to maintain their health and wellbeing in line with recommended guidance. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet and were given choices about what they ate and drank. Guidance about specialist diets from healthcare professionals was followed.

Staff were kind and caring when they supported people and gave emotional support when needed. People were comfortable with staff and had a good rapport with them. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and care was planned based on people’s preferences. People had their privacy and dignity protected. People’s relatives felt welcome at the service.

Staff knew people well and were able to communicate with people individually based on their abilities. People were supported to express their views and raise concerns. People and their families were supported when they were nearing the end of their lives.

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.

People, their relatives and staff found the registered manager to be approachable. People and their relatives were involved in the service and asked for feedback for improvements. There were systems in place which supported monitoring the quality of the service provided to drive improvement such as by working with other healthcare professionals and local schemes to ensure best practice guidance was followed. The registered manager was actively involved in initiatives to improve the quality of care that people received and the service had been recognised at a national awards ceremony for being the dementia team of the year in 2019.

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 September 2017).

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.