Sycamore Hall

Updated 24 March 2021

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 Care Quality Commission’s response to the coronavirus pandemic we are looking at the preparedness of care homes in relation to infection prevention and control. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection control and prevention measures the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 9 March 2021 and was announced.

Updated 24 March 2021

About the service

Sycamore Hall is a care home providing personal and nursing care up to 62 people, some of whom were living with dementia. When we visited 56 people were using the service.

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

Since the last inspection the provider and new manager had worked to support staff to understand the risks to people’s safety and to monitor their progress. Improvements were seen at this inspection and a plan to continue to embed this work so that staff confidently monitored people was in place. This included work to ensure people’s health appointments were recorded, their hydration needs were assessed and that person-centred medicines protocols were in place. Better care plans were needed to ensure staff had access to information to support people who were distressed in a consistent way.

The provider was committed to ensuring their checks of the service were effective. They agreed to make changes, so they would be able to identify points we raised at this inspection themselves. For example, to ensure references were always checked as authentic when staff were employed.

The staff team had been inducted, supported and trained which enabled them to fulfil their role to a good standard. Staff understood their roles clearly and they knew what was expected of them. People were treated with respect and dignity, they were also supported to maintain their independence.

People’s needs, and preferences were known by staff and this had led to people receiving person centred, responsive care. Staff had worked to improve or maintain people’s quality of life. Feedback from people and their relatives was positive. Staff had developed positive relationships with people which resulted in people feeling safe and happy.

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 supported this practice. People enjoyed access to a garden and were supported to access the community to take part in local activities. People told us they were offered a wide variety of activities to take part in if they chose to.

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 26 October 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.