Newlands Nursing Care Centre

Updated 27 May 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

One Inspector and 2 Experts by Experience carried out the inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Newlands Nursing Care Centre is a ‘care home’ which also provides personal care to people living in their own homes. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under 1 contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. Newlands Nursing Care Centre is a care home with nursing care. While we inspect and regulate the premises of the care home, we do not regulate people’s individual accommodation. Where we refer to the premises, we solely refer to the premises of the care home.

The Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

There was a registered manager in post who was also the operations manager. A new manager had also been recruited in March 2023 and they were in the process of registering with CQC.

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. We considered the feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in March 2022 in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

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 spoke with 9 people who lived or were staying in Newlands Nursing Care Centre (the home). We also spoke with 3 people living in their own apartments who received a regulated activity from the service. We spoke with 7 people’s relatives about their experience of the care and support provided by the service.

We spoke with 13 staff including the operations manager, the manager, the deputy manager, 1 nurse, 5 care staff, 1 chef, 1 maintenance worker, 1 housekeeper and the activity co-ordinator. We also spoke with the nominated individual for the provider. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people's care records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed. We reviewed 4 staff recruitment and personnel files.

We continued to seek clarification from the management team to validate the evidence found. We sought feedback from a healthcare professional involved with the service.

Updated 27 May 2023

About the service

Newlands Nursing Care Centre is registered to provide accommodation and personal care to up to 25 older people, some who require nursing care. At the time of our inspection, 13 people lived or were receiving respite care in the nursing home.

The service is also registered to provide personal care and nursing to people living in their own accommodation, including apartments and cottages based on the grounds of Newlands Care Centre. Where people are not living in the nursing home, the report refers to them living in their own homes.

While we inspect both aspects of the service, we do not inspect people’s own accommodation, therefore evidence in relation to the environment is based on people living in the care home aspect of Newlands. Three people were receiving personal care in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and that staff responded to their needs. Staff had received training in recognising safeguarding concerns and knew the actions to take to protect people from harm. Nursing staff engaged with external healthcare professionals to ensure people received timely care and support that was appropriate to their needs.

Each person living at Newlands, or receiving support from staff in their own homes, had detailed care plans in place. The management had actions to ensure these plans continued to be personalised and reflective of people’s changing needs.

There was a new management team in place at Newlands. New monitoring and governance systems to monitor and improve the quality of care people received had been implemented and had been successful in driving improvements. People and their relatives spoke positively about the management and the caring culture of staff. Staff spoke positively about the support they received from the management team.

Safe recruitment practices were in place. The provider ensured appropriate checks were being carried out to ensure staff were of good character.

There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs. Staff spoke positively about staffing at Newlands and spoke positively about people and their needs.

The provider had infection control procedures in place to protect people and prevent the spread of infection. Staff accessed personal protective equipment (PPE) and acted in accordance with government guidance.

We observed positive interactions between people and staff throughout our inspection. People living in the home and in the community clearly enjoyed the time they spent with staff and others. People enjoyed the engagement and activities they had received from staff and others.

Incidents and accidents were reviewed to reduce the risk of a reoccurrence. Complaints were responded to appropriately and opportunity was made to identify and make improvements.

The manager and deputy manager ensured appropriate action was taken when people lacked capacity in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. At the time of our inspection, the deputy manager had applied to the standard authority as 2 people were being subject to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 12 November 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced inspection of this service on 7 and 8 September 2022. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve people’s care records and their good governance systems.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Newlands Nursing Care Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.