Southlands Care Home

Updated 30 September 2017

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 took place on 3 and 14 August 2017. Day one of the inspection was unannounced and was carried out by one adult social care inspector, a specialist advisor in nursing and governance and two experts 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. We told the provider we would be visiting on day two. One adult social care inspector conducted the inspection on day two.

Prior to our inspection we checked all the information we held about the service including notifications which the provider had sent us. Statutory notifications tell us about specific events which occur at the service and about which the provider is legally required to inform us. In addition the provider had completed a Provider information return (PIR) prior to the inspection. A PIR is a form which asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We sought feedback from the local authority and clinical commissioning group and the local Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used this information to help us plan the inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with 22 people who lived at the service and nine of their relatives. We spent time in communal areas of the service and some people invited us to speak with them in their own bedrooms.

We spoke with 19 members of staff which included; the registered manager, the area director, the deputy manager, care workers, unit managers, nurses, activities staff, maintenance staff, kitchen staff and administrators. We also had opportunity to speak to two volunteers from a local library service who visited regularly.

We examined nine people’s care records during the inspection. These included risk assessments and medicine records. We also inspected four staff recruitment and training records, servicing and maintenance documents for equipment and the environment and the quality assurance systems.

Updated 30 September 2017

We inspected Southlands Care Home on the 3 and 14 August 2017. Southlands Care Home provides personal and nursing care for up to 70 older people. There were 68 people living at the service at the time of the inspection.

The inspection took place on 3 and 14 August 2017 and day one was unannounced. We told the provider we would be visiting on day two. At the last inspection in March 2015, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Staff worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act in every aspect of their work with people. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Leadership of the home was positive and this had driven, developed and maintained a positive culture where people and staff felt they were listened to and fully involved in developing and shaping the service. The quality of the service was assessed regularly and improvements were made where required. A lessons learned approach was taken which meant the team worked together to continuously improve. This approach had seen the service consistently deliver good levels of care for people and people confirmed this to us.

We saw that people were safe. People and their relatives confirmed this. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding and were aware of types of abuse and how to report incidents. They knew the people they supported extremely well which resulted in people feeling safe and behaving in a confident way around staff.

There were robust recruitment processes in place to assist the registered manager in making safe decisions about who they employed. Staffing levels were safe and ensured people’s needs were met. Work was currently underway to ensure call bells were responded to quickly and in a timely manner.

Staff received a thorough induction when they started work at the service which gave them the skills and knowledge to care for people. They were supported through supervision and appraisal.

People’s medicines were managed safely. Risks to people’s health and safety had been identified and detailed risk assessments and management plans were in place to guide staff. These were linked to people’s care plans.

People’s nutritional needs were identified and supported by staff. Where further input was required by healthcare professionals the staff had requested referrals.

The environment supported people’s needs and their personal space reflected their preferences and personalities. Specialist equipment was checked regularly to ensure it was safe. Regular servicing of equipment and checks of services such as gas, electric and water took place.

We saw that people mattered to staff and staff respected their privacy and dignity. People’s preferences were taken account of when planning their care and they could choose how that care was delivered. Work to record people’s preferences in their care plan had started. People had access to a wide range of activities to promote wellbeing and, development of activities for people cared for in bed had been initiated.

Complaints were managed effectively and people felt they could raise concerns and they would be listened to. Compliments reflected our findings.