Southerndown

Updated 24 July 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 two inspectors and two Experts by Experience on day one. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. One inspector returned the following day to complete the inspection and to provide feedback.

Service and service type:

Southerndown is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 88 older people who require nursing or personal care. 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 took place on 29 and 30 May 2019 and was unannounced on the first day.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

During our inspection we spoke with 13 people and eight relatives to obtain their feedback. We looked at records, which included four people’s care records. We checked recruitment, training and supervision records for two staff. We looked at a range of records about how the service was managed. We also spoke with the operations director, the registered manager, the deputy manager, two activities co-ordinators, two nurses, two team leaders, three care staff, one member of the housekeeping team, the maintenance manager and the chef. We also spoke with two visiting external professionals.

After the inspection we contacted 10 external health and social care professionals, including commissioners to obtain their views about the service. We also telephoned three more relatives of people living at the service.

Updated 24 July 2019

About the service:

Southerndown is a care home registered to provide personal and nursing care to older people, including people living with dementia. The service comprises of two separate units, including one which specialised in providing care to people living with dementia. There were 77 people living at the service at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People benefitted from being supported by enthusiastic, motivated and compassionate staff. The entire team at the service demonstrated a visible person-centred culture enabling people to feel they were really cared for and mattered. Staff had developed very positive and meaningful, caring relationships with people. The care provided was sensitive to people's diverse needs.

People were respected, included in decisions and their privacy and independence maintained to a high standard. People’s independence was promoted, and the provider sought new ways of working, such as a dementia accreditation programme, that had a positive impact on people’s well-being. The provider employed a dementia care specialist nurse who provided additional support to people living with dementia and their families.

People's healthcare and nutritional needs were met. 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 benefitted from suitably trained, competent and skilled staff.

People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed and other risks to their health and wellbeing were managed safely. The provider had good systems to manage safeguarding concerns, accidents, infection control and environmental safety.

The provider’s quality assurance systems remained effective. There was a new registered manager who was well supported by the provider and by a robust team of staff who all had clearly set out roles and responsibilities. There was an open, transparent and positive culture at the service. External professionals were complimentary about how the service worked in partnership with them.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 24 November 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was our scheduled, planned inspection based on previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates.

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