St Joseph's - Newcastle

Updated 19 May 2022

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 care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 14 April 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection.

Updated 19 May 2022

St Josephs – Newcastle provides nursing and residential care for 58 for older people, some of whom are living with dementia and at the time of the inspection there were 54 people in residence. The service is spread over four floors, with more independent people living on the upper levels. Sisters of the poor also live on site and inhabit one of the upper levels of the service. A Mother Superior was responsible for the sisters and the service.

St Joseph's - Newcastle is one of a number of homes run by the Little Sisters of the Poor congregation. Jeanne Jugan was the founder and first Little Sister of the Poor. The homes' vision is to continue the inspiration of Jeanne Jugan in today's world, to improve care for the elderly and to promote the elderly's role in society. The Little Sisters of the Poor congregation adhere at all times to the philosophy and ethics of

the Catholic Church.

St Joseph's - Newcastle is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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 our last inspection, we rated the service good. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

At this inspection, we found the service remained good. Full detailed finding can be found in the last inspection report.

The home had a registered manager in place who was also the Mother Superior. A registered manager is a person who has registered with 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 registered manager and the staffing team were held in high regard by people and visitors to the service.

The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities with regard to safeguarding and staff had been trained in safeguarding procedures. People’s day to day risks had been assessed to support them as much as possible and help keep them from harm. Accidents and incidents were appropriately recorded and monitored.

People had access to healthcare services and received ongoing healthcare support. Appropriate arrangements were in place for the safe management and administration of medicines.

People’s care needs were assessed before they started using the service and care plans were written in a person-centred way and reviewed regularly. Being person-centred means the person’s individual wishes, needs and choices are taken into account.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people’s independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible. 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 support this practice.

Activities were plentiful and arranged around the likes and interests of people who used the service. The community was encouraged to be involved with the service, including attending luncheon clubs.

The home was clean, spacious and suitable for the people who used the service. The provider had effective procedures in place for managing the maintenance of the premises and appropriate health and safety checks were carried out.

The provider had a complaints procedure in place and people who used the service and their relatives were aware of how to make a complaint. The provider had a quality assurance process which they used to maintain good standards throughout the service. People who used the service, relatives and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service through meetings and surveys.

The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and sufficient staff were employed and on duty to meet people’s needs. Staff were supported through a range of mandatory training, supervision and yearly appraisal.