Merryfield House Nursing Home

Updated 9 December 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 checked 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 unannounced inspection took place on 13 October 2017 and was carried out by one inspector and one expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience for the inspection at Merryfield House Nursing Home was knowledgeable about caring for older people.

Prior to the inspection we looked at the information we had about the service. This information included the statutory notifications that the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

Before the inspection, we had asked the provider to complete 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 planned to make. We reviewed the information included in the PIR and used it to assist in our planning of the inspection.

We found people who lived at the service used a variety of different ways to communicate. During our inspection, we used a method called Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). This involved observing interactions between staff and people while people were being provided with care. SOFI is a specific way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who cannot talk to us. We undertook two SOFI observations at different times of the day to check the consistency of the service’s approach to care.

We spoke with six people who lived in the home and six relatives of people. After the inspection we contacted another three relatives. They shared their views about the care and support provided by the service with us. We also spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager and twelve staff members which included care staff, the training co-ordinator, the activities co-ordinator, a member of the housekeeping team and the cook.

We looked at a range of documents and written records, sampling five people's care records, medicine administration charts, recruitment files of four staff members and training records. We also looked at the information about the arrangements for managing complaints and other records relevant to the monitoring the quality of the service provided.

Updated 9 December 2017

Merryfield House Nursing Home is situated on the outskirts of Witney and is registered to provide care and support for up to 24 older people. The bedrooms, bathrooms and toilets of the service are situated over two floors with stairs and passenger lift access to the first floor. Communal areas including lounges, a conservatory and a dining room are available to people.

At the last inspection, the service had been rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Why the service is rated good:

People remained safe living in the home. There was a sufficient number of staff to meet people's needs and staff were recruited safely. Risk assessments were carried out and promoted positive risk taking which enable people to live their lives as they chose. People received their medicines as prescribed.

People continued to receive effective care from staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them and meet their needs. People were supported to have choice and control of their lives. Staff provided people with support in the least restrictive way possible and the procedures in the service supported this practice. People could access health professionals when needed. Staff worked closely with people's GPs and other professionals to ensure people’s health and well-being were monitored.

The service continued to provide support in a caring way. Staff members supported people with kindness and compassion. Staff respected people as individuals and treated them with dignity. People and, where appropriate, their relatives were involved in making decisions about people’s care needs and the support people required to have their needs met.

The responsiveness of the service was outstanding. Regular monitoring and reviews helped to ensure referrals were made to appropriate health and social care professionals and, where necessary, care and support were changed and implemented to accurately reflect people's needs. Care planning was fixed upon having the individual at the heart of their support. The service identified how people wished to be supported so they received meaningful and personalised care. Activities were plentiful and meaningful, enabling people to live as full a life as possible. A range of group and one-to-one activities were available for those who liked to participate. People and relatives appreciated the activities co-ordinator. Staff had maximised stimulation for people who lived with dementia to give positive meaning to their lives.

The service was led by a registered manager who promoted a service that put people at the forefront of all the service did. There was a positive culture that valued people, relatives and staff, and promoted a caring ethos.