Archived: St Mary's Residential Care Home

Updated 12 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 adult social care inspector.

Service and service type:

St Mary's is a residential care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The home had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the home is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was unannounced and took place on the 25 and 26 April 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the home, including notifications we had received. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally required to tell us about within required timescales. We also asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give us some key information about the home, what the home does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to plan the inspection.

We spoke with 19 people living at the home, two relatives, seven members of staff, the registered manager and the HR manager. We asked the local authority who commissions care services from the home for their views on the care and support provided. Following the inspection, we received feedback from three health and social care professionals. To help us assess and understand how people's care needs were being met we reviewed six people’s care records. We also reviewed records relating to the running of the home. These included staff recruitment and training records, medicine records and records associated with the provider's quality assurance systems.

Updated 12 July 2019

About the service:

St Mary's Residential Care Home is registered to provide accommodation and personal care for up to 25 people. At the time of our inspection, 24 people were living at the home. St Mary's Residential Care Home is owned by The Institute of Our Lady of Mercy, a congregation of religious women 'Sisters' from the catholic denomination. The home accepts people from all denominations or no faith.

People’s experience of using this service:

People consistently told us they were treated with kindness, compassion and described St Mary's as a lovely peaceful place to live.

People received exceptionally personalised care that truly valued them as individuals. Staff continually looked for new ways to enhance people's lives and understood what was expected of them; they were motivated, hardworking and enthusiastic.

Staff had a detailed knowledge of people's histories, their likes, dislikes and how they wished to be supported. This information was used to support people in a way that valued them as unique individuals and respected them for who they were. Staff went to exceptional lengths to ensure people had access to a wide range of activities that met their individual needs.

The provider's values were embedded into the home, staff and culture. The registered manager and staff were passionate and committed to providing a service where people were truly listened to and received personalised care and support.

People were protected from potential abuse by staff who had received training and were confident in raising concerns. There was a thorough recruitment process in place that checked potential staff were safe to work with people who may be vulnerable.

Risks had been appropriately assessed and staff had been provided with information on how to support people safely.

People had confidence in the staff who supported them and felt safe in their care. Staff were well trained and skilled at supporting people to lead independent, active and fulfilling lives. People's care plans were detailed and accurate, ensuring staff consistently knew how to support people.

People, staff and healthcare professionals told us the home was well led. Staff understood what was expected of them and were motivated to provide and maintain high standards of personalised care which treated people with dignity and respect.

The provider had exceptionally strong and effective governance systems in place. The management team continued to carry out a regular programme of audits to assess the safety and quality of the service and identify issues. The strong leadership put people first and set high expectations for staff. Staff were positive about the management of the home and felt valued and respected. This had a significant and positive impact on the quality of care and support of people living at St Marys.

St Mary’s met the characteristics of Outstanding in Caring, Responsive and Well Led.

Rating at last inspection: St Mary's Residential Care Home was previously rated as ‘Good.’ The report was published on the 2 November 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection that was scheduled to take place in line with Care Quality Commission scheduling guidelines for adult social care services.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the home through the information we receive until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme.

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