Sandstones

Updated 18 September 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.

The inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Sandstones 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 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

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed all the information we held about the provider and spoke with the commissioning authority. We reviewed the notifications sent to us from the provider in line with their legal responsibility. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

During the inspection, we looked at two people’s care records and checked various records relating staff administration of medicines and training. We checked audits and quality assurance reports, incident and accident records, as well as the recruitment supervision and training information for two staff, we also discussed with the manager the company’s apprenticeship scheme. We visited the care home on 10 July 2019 and met with everyone living in the home and spoke at length with nine people living at sandstones.

We talked to nine members of staff including, support workers, senior staff, the service manager and the registered manager about their training and the care and support in the home. We got information from three relatives and a quality monitoring officer from the local authority.

Updated 18 September 2019

About the service

Sandstones is a residential care home providing personal care to 35 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The home is registered for up to 35 people. Accommodation is provided in single bedrooms.

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

Without exception, everyone we spoke to talked about the outstanding care and staff at Sandstones. Everyone said they felt safe and enjoyed life in the home and had actively chosen to move there. They felt they had a sense of purpose and led active and fulfilling lives due to the environment, contact with the community and the support and approach of staff members. They felt in complete control of their care and able to contribute to the running of the home. One person summed it up by saying, “I came for a look around and just never left, best thing I ever did”.

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.

Care and support were delivered on an individual basis and the occupants of the home decided their daily routines. Care, support and activities were planned around individual likes and dislikes. People were encouraged to participate in activities which were meaningful to them for example gardening, shopping and social activities. We witnessed that several activities happened at the same time offering further choice to the activity schedule.

Professionals also spoke extremely highly of the home and how the home was able to support people to have excellent outcomes and be supported until the end of their life extremely well in an individualised way. They commented on the lovely atmosphere in the home, with people laughing and relaxed in the company of staff.

Thorough recruitment and staff induction were in place to ensure that staff were suitable to work and provide support within the home.

Staff had access to training. Champions had been identified to improve and build upon different areas of care by looking at best practice and how this could benefit people in the home.

People had access to food and snacks throughout the day, food was well presented, plentiful, varied and freshly prepared.

Healthcare records were kept to high standards and staff knowledge of individuals was extremely good. This enabled staff to recognise early changes in people and support early access to primary healthcare services. This ensured excellent continuity of care.

Relatives spoke of the exceptionally caring staff and how they went above and beyond to ensure their relatives were happy and comfortable in the home. One relative summed up many people’s comments. They said, “I am certain that my [relative] would not be here today if it was not for their excellent care”.

Any minor issues within the home were dealt with prior to becoming complaints, however everyone felt that their views were respected, and they could offer feedback on the home which would be respected and acted upon.

The home had an open door policy, it had strong links and was integrated into the local community. They hosted community events and received many visitors to the home for example two local nursery schools, therapy dogs and entertainers. The staff team strove to achieve excellence in all that they did in order that people living in the home received the best quality care.

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 21 Feb 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.