Background to this inspection
Updated
16 August 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 one inspector, a specialist nursing advisor and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert at this inspection had experience of caring for older people.
Service and service type:
Apsley House Care 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 who was registered with the Care Quality Commission. Registered managers 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 was an unannounced inspection, which meant the provider and staff were not aware that we were coming.
What we did:
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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.
During the inspection:
We observed the support that people received, spoke with people and staff and gathered information relating to the management of the service. We used the short observational framework for inspection (SOFI), which 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 staff recruitment files, training records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures and quality assurance processes developed and implemented by the provider. We reviewed six people’s care records.
We also spoke with seven people living at the service and five visitors. We also spoke with six members of staff, including the registered manager, the deputy manager, a registered nurse, an activities co-ordinator, the chef and care staff.
Updated
16 August 2019
About the service:
Apsley House Care Home is a care home registered to provide nursing and residential care and accommodation for 35 people with various health conditions, including dementia and diabetes. There were 26 people living at the service on the day of our inspection. Apsley House Care Home is a large converted period property located in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
People’s experience of using this service:
People were happy with the care they received, felt relaxed with staff and told us they were treated with kindness. They said they felt safe, were well supported and there were sufficient staff to care for them.
Our own observations supported this, and we saw friendly relationships had developed between people and staff. A relative told us, “Staff are very approachable, very attentive and are also very caring”.
People enjoyed an independent lifestyle and told us their needs were met. They enjoyed the food, drink and activities that took place daily. One person told us, “I get what I need in the way of care and I like the entertainment”. A visiting relative added, “The meals here are very good, [my relative] has a glass of wine usually”.
People felt the service was homely and welcoming to them and their visitors. One person told us, “Staff are very respectful towards me and others. My family visit occasionally and they all feel welcome coming here”.
People told us they thought the service was well managed and they enjoyed living there. A visiting relative told us, “I do feel we’ve got nothing to worry about and I’m quite happy. Everything here is okay, I feel positive about it all”.
Staff had received training considered essential by the provider. It was clear from observing the care delivered and the feedback people and staff gave us, that they knew the best way to care for people in line with their needs and preferences. A member of staff told us, “My induction and training was very useful”.
The provider had systems of quality assurance to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. These systems also supported people to stay safe by assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring that people were cared for in a person centred way and that the provider learned from any mistakes. Our own observations and the feedback we received supported this. People received high quality care that met their needs and improved their wellbeing from dedicated and enthusiastic staff. A member of staff said, “The care we give is very person centred, it’s all about the residents and they rely on us”.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Requires Improvement (report published 27 December 2018).
Why we inspected: The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received that the provider was not submitting statutory notifications to the CQC. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. Services that provide health and social care to people are required to inform the Care Quality Commission, (the CQC), of important events that happen in the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this home and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Good.