St Vincent's

Updated 12 February 2019

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.

This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 7 January 2019. The inspection was undertaken by an adult social care inspector and an Expert 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.

The service had not been asked for a Provider Information Return (PIR) but the registered manager updated and completed this during the inspection. The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed other information we held about the service.

During the visit we were able to meet and speak with four of the people who were living at the home. We spoke with eight of the staff working at St Vincent’s including care staff, ancillary staff and the registered manager and Director of Services who supports the management processes in the home.

We looked at the care records for four of the people staying at the home as well as medication records and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service. These included safety and quality audits which included feedback from people living at the home.

We undertook general observations and looked round the home, including people’s bedrooms, bathrooms and the dining/lounge areas.

During and after the visit we spoke with three health and social care professionals who had regular input into the home. Both gave very positive feedback regarding the high level of care at St Vincent’s.

Updated 12 February 2019

St Vincent’s 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.

The home provides support for retired daughters from the Community of St Vincent de Paul and sisters from other religious communities. The home is situated in Southport town centre. The accommodation is single bedrooms with many of them having en-suite facilities. The home also has its own chapel. The home can accommodate up to eleven people. There were ten people accommodated at the time of the inspection.

This was an unannounced inspection which took place on 7 January 2019. 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.

We have, however, rated the ‘Responsive’ domain in the report as ‘Outstanding’, an improvement from our last inspection, and have provided additional evidence to support this rating.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

What was particularly noticeable about St Vincent’s was the sense of ‘family’ atmosphere in the way people interacted with each other and the freedom that people had within a shared culture and philosophy. The home had a very strong culture based around daily religious activity and strong attachments to the local catholic church community. This was supported by staff working in the home.

We were given excellent feedback from the people we spoke with who were living at St Vincent’s. They told us they enjoyed living at the home and their quality of life was considerably enhanced by the sense of community involvement and how they were included in all aspects of their care and running of the home.

People said they were well cared for. People were listened to. People had the support they needed to express their needs and wishes. People could make decisions and choices. We found examples where people had improved their quality of life since they had been living at St Vincent’s and had been able to access the local community where as previously they had lacked confidence and had been anxious.

The assessment and planning of people’s care was highly individualised. We found care records that supported people were always completed and reviewed with the person’s input and included a very high level of detail regarding peoples wishes and choices. This was particularly the case with wishes around people’s end of life care where documentation and care planning had been further enhanced for our last inspection.

A visitor told us, “As soon as you come through the front door you can feel the love. The way staff cared for [person] who was dying was quite wonderful!” This was reinforced by a visiting professional who told us, “Staff always put it the extra effort to care for people. They are like a family.”

The home was well staffed and we found staff communicated and supported people with dignity and respect. Staff could explain each person’s care needs and how they communicated these needs. People living at St Vincent’s told us that staff had the skills and approach needed to ensure people were receiving the right care.

We saw there were systems in place to monitor medication so that people received their medicines safely.

Care was organised so any risks were assessed and plans put in place to maximise people’s independence whilst help ensure people’s safety.

The staff we spoke with described how they would recognise abuse and the action they would take to ensure actual or potential harm was reported. Training records confirmed staff had undertaken safeguarding training and this was ongoing. All the staff we spoke with were clear about the need to report any concerns they had.

Arrangements were in place for checking the environment to ensure it was safe. For example, health and safety audits were completed where obvious hazards were identified. We found the environment safe and well maintained.

Staff sought consent from people before providing support. When people were unable to consent, the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were followed in that an assessment of the person’s mental capacity was made and decisions made in the person’s best interest. 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.

We saw people’s dietary needs were managed with reference to individual needs and choice. Meal times were a main feature of life in the home and provided an excellent social occasion.

The manager could evidence a series of quality assurance processes and audits carried out internally and externally by staff and from visiting senior managers for the provider. These were effective in managing the home and were based on getting feedback from the people living there.