St Teresa's Care Home

Updated 20 May 2022

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 CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of COVID-19, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practice is safe and that services are compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.

This inspection took place on 22 March 2022 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection.

Updated 20 May 2022

About the service

St Teresa's Care Home provides accommodation and support for up to 26 people. At the time of our inspection 25 people were living there. The home was adapted from several neighbouring properties with accommodation over four floors. The home has been run by the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for nearly 90 years.

People’s experience of using this service

People, relatives and staff all gave us positive feedback about their experiences here.

Comments we received from people and their relatives about the staff and the sisters were universally positive and included, “They are fantastic and will help with anything” and “I couldn’t single anyone out, they are generally wonderful people”.

Staff understood the risks faced by the people they cared for and people’s risk assessments were documented and updated regularly. However, we have made a recommendation that the home’s falls prevention and management policies and procedures are reviewed.

People's medicines were safely managed and stored. Records were kept and checked daily.

The home was clean and well-maintained. Fire safety checks and drills were regularly completed. There were regular, documented safety checks and external assessments of safety and equipment.

People's independence and dignity was promoted. Their risk assessments and support plans were written in a positive, person-centred way in their own voice. There were regular reviews involving the person and their relatives or representatives appropriately.

Some people had lived in the home for many years and there was a low turnover of staff. This meant people had continuity of care and were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their needs. A staff member said, “It's like a family. It's like home here.”

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.

Staff enjoyed working here. They told us, “I love it” and “It’s the best place to work.” They had regular training, supervision and appraisal. Staff we spoke with were knowledgeable and confident in their roles.

At the time of our inspection, the registered manager was on authorised leave and was unavailable. There was an effective senior team in place led by the head of care who were managing the service effectively in the absence of the registered manager.

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 requires improvement (published 24 December 2018) and there were multiple 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

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.