Archived: St Martins Care Home For The Elderly Limited

Updated 21 January 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 was done to check that improvements to meet legal requirements planned by the registered manager after our focused inspection on 28 April 2016 had been made. This inspection was also done to check 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 inspection took place on 22 December 2016 and was carried out by one inspector and a specialist advisor in dementia care. The inspection was unannounced.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This 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 looked at information we held about the provider and the services at the home. This included statutory notifications. Statutory notifications include important events and occurrences which h the provider is required to send to us by law.

We requested information about the home from the local authority and Healthwatch. The local authority has responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion, which promotes the views and experiences of people who use health and social care.

During our inspection we spent time with people in the communal areas of the home. We spoke with seven people who lived at the home. Not all of the people living at the home were able to talk to us directly, so we also spoke with three relatives after the inspection. We talked with the provider, the registered manager, one senior staff member and two care staff. We also spoke with a member of the catering staff and a volunteer activities co-ordinator. In addition, we spoke with a visiting health professional. We looked at a range of documents and written records including five people's care records, records about the administration of medicines, incident report forms and three staff recruitment files. We sampled minutes of staff and relatives and resident’s meetings. We also looked at information about how the provider and registered manager monitored the quality of the service provided and the actions they took.

Updated 21 January 2017

St Martins Care Home For The Elderly Limited is registered to provide accommodation and care for up to 15 older people who may have support needs owing to physical disabilities and sensory impairment. There were 13 people living at the home at the time of our inspection.

This inspection took place on 22 December 2016 and was unannounced.

A registered manager was in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

At the last inspection on 28 April 2016, we asked the provider to take action to make improvements to reduce the risks people rights to liberty were not met, and this action has been completed. At this inspection we found people are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People told us they felt safe because of the way staff cared for them. Staff took action to care for people in ways which promoted their safety and people's care plans gave clear guidance for staff to follow in order to promote people’s well-being. Staff knew what action to take to protect people from the risk of potential abuse. There were enough staff employed to care for people and where people wanted assistance to take their medicines this was given by staff who knew how to do this safely.

People benefited from receiving support from staff with the knowledge and skills to care for them. Further training was planned for staff so they would be able to continue to meet people’s care needs. People enjoyed their mealtime experiences, and had enough to eat and drink to remain well. Staff took action to support people if they required medical assistance, and advice provided by health professionals was implemented. As a result, people were supported to maintain their health.

Caring relationships had been built between people and their relatives and staff. People and their relatives were positive about the staff who supported them and felt valued by the staff. Staff took time to chat to people and offered them reassurance in the ways they preferred when they were anxious. People’s right to privacy was taken into account in the way staff cared for them. People were encouraged to make their own day to day decisions about their care. Where people needed support to do this this was given by staff.

People were involved in deciding how their care should be planned and risks to their well-being responded to. Where people were not able to make all of their own decisions their representatives and relatives were consulted. People’s care plans and risk assessments were updated as their needs changed. People and their relatives understood how to raise any concerns or complaints about the service. Systems for managing complaints were in place, so any lessons would be learnt.

Positive comments were received about the way the home was managed. Staff understood how they were expected to care for people, so people enjoyed living at the home. The registered manager checked the quality of the care provided and people and their relatives were encouraged to give feedback on the care provided. The registered manager introduced changes to develop people’s care further. After the inspection the registered manager had put plans in place so staff would receive additional training and some items of equipment would be replaced.