Background to this inspection
Updated
28 March 2020
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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was undertaken by an inspector on 13 February 2020.
Service and service type
This service 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 both the registered manager 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
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included any notifications (events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about). We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their home, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.
In addition, we considered our last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection report and information that had been sent to us by other agencies such as commissioners who had a contract with the service. We also contacted 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 all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with six people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, trainer, nurse and care staff. We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and medicines records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection we asked the provider to send further information relating to gaining feedback from people and their families.
Updated
28 March 2020
About the service
Richmond Village Northampton is a nursing home for up to 31 older people. There were 30 people using the service at the time of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
There was a registered manager who had been the manager of the service since 30 June 2016.
People received care from a well-established staff team who were highly skilled and knowledgeable. People told us they felt safe and they trusted staff.
People were able to express themselves and live their lives as much as they could because staff understood what was important to each person. Staff knew of people’s likes, dislikes and preferences and always met these. People were involved in the planning of their care. People received compassionate care from staff who knew them well.
Staff explored and found ways to meet people’s religious, spiritual and well-being needs. People’s visitors were always made to feel welcome and staff recognised family, visitors and pets were integral to people’s well-being.
Staff always sought to improve people’s care by involving health and social care professionals. Staff were skilled at supporting people and their families to explore and record their wishes about their care at the end of their life. Relatives were supported practically and spiritually. The service had strong links with palliative care services for symptom control.
People had a wide variety of food to choose from and a choice of dining areas. Creative ways were found to encourage people to eat. People’s independence and dignity were always promoted.
People’s assessments were holistic; they explored all areas of people’s lives including their cultural practices, needs and preferences. People’s risks were assessed at regular intervals or as their needs changed. Care plans informed staff how to provide care that mitigated these known risks.
Staff followed safe practices which protected people from the risks of infection and ensured people received their medicines safely.
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.
People could be confident their complaints would be responded to and resolved. The registered manager continually looked for ways to improve the service and involved staff in finding solutions to issues when things went wrong.
The registered manager was highly respected by all staff and health and social care professionals visiting the home. Staff at all levels were supported and felt empowered to develop their skills and knowledge to improve the standards of care.
The registered manager had a good working relationship with health teams and contributed to the development of best practice through continuous learning and development.
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 2 August 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.