Gills Top

Updated 24 February 2021

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 the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 3 February 2021 and was announced.

Updated 24 February 2021

The inspection took place on 20 December 2018 and 08 January 2019 was unannounced.

Gills Top is a residential ‘care home’ which provides accommodation and personal care for up to 27 older people, including people living with dementia. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. At the time of the inspection there were 24 people living at the home.

Rooms were located over two floors and there was an accessible lift available to use. There was a lounge area/dining room located on the ground floor as well as lounge upstairs for people to access. All rooms were single occupancy and had en-suite facilities.

At the last inspection, which took place in June 2016 the service was rated ‘Good’. At this inspection we found the service remained ‘Good’ and continued to meet all the essential standards that we assessed.

There was a registered manager at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The manager was aware of their regulatory responsibilities and notified CQC of all events and incidents which occurred at the service. This enabled CQC to monitor the safety and welfare of people living at the home.

People who lived at Gills Top told us they felt safe. We checked care plans and risk assessments and found that they contained up-to-date, relevant and consistent information.

Medication systems and processes were safely in place. Staff received appropriate medication training and regularly had their competency assessed. The storage area for medicines was not always appropriate. We made a recommendation about this in the report.

The home employed an adequate number of staff to provide the support people required. We received positive feedback about the staffing levels from people, relatives and healthcare professionals during the inspection.

Recruitment was safely managed. Pre-employment checks were carried out; candidates were appropriately vetted before commencing employment.

Safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures were in place. Staff explained their understanding of what ‘safeguarding’ and 'whistleblowing' meant and the actions they would take to safeguard people in their care.

The environment was clean, odour-free and well-maintained. Dedicated domestic staff ensured that health, safety and infection control procedures were followed.

The home complied with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People’s level of capacity was appropriately assessed and reviewed.

Staff received regular supervision and were supported with training, learning and development opportunities.

People’s nutrition and hydration support needs were assessed and supported from the outset. We saw the appropriate support measures in place to ensure people’s nutrition and hydration needs were regularly monitored and reviewed.

People received an effective level of support from the staff team and external healthcare professionals. Appropriate referrals were made to district nurses, community matrons, speech and language therapists (SALT) and falls prevention teams.

We observed staff providing warm, kind and compassionate care. People told us they were treated with dignity and respect and felt safe and cared for.

People were encouraged to engage in a variety of different activities. There was an activities co-ordinator in post who arranged activities around different likes and preferences of people who lived at Gills Top.

There was a formal complaints policy in place. People and relatives were provided with the complaint process information from the outset.

There was a variety of different audits and checks conducted which meant that people remained safe and were not exposed to risk.

The registered provider had a range of different policies in place. Staff knew where to access such policies and understood the importance of complying with these.