Sandtoft Care Home

Updated 30 November 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 planned 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 13 October 2017 and was unannounced. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before our inspection, we looked at information the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had received about the service including notifications received from the registered manager. We checked that we had received these in a timely manner. We also looked at safeguarding referrals, complaints and any other information from members of the public.

We spoke with a range of people about the service. They included two people who lived at the home, two relatives, the area manager, the manager who was registering with CQC, and four staff members. Prior to our inspection visit we contacted the commissioning departments at Wirral and Healthwatch Wirral who are consumer champions for health and social care. We were also able to speak to a visiting district nurse. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service.

We observed care and support for the majority of people who lived at the home. We reviewed a range of documentation including three care plans, medication records, records for four staff members, staff training records, policies and procedures, auditing records, health and safety records and other records relating to how the home is managed.

Updated 30 November 2017

We carried out an unannounced inspection of Sandtoft Care Home on 13 October 2017. Sandtoft Care Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 22 people. At the time of our visit 21 people were living at the home. The home is a three storey building in Hoylake offering single accommodation of a good standard. On the ground floor there is a bright communal lounge, a separate dining room and a conservatory.

The service had a manager who was currently going through the CQC registration process. They were well supported by the area manager who had previously been the registered manager of Sandtoft Care Home.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained good

The home was bright and, airy and improvements had been made for people to access the garden. The kitchen had been refurbished and people were able to personalise their bedrooms.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) 2009 legislation had been followed. The registered manager told us that DoLS applications had been submitted to the Local Authority for some people. The provider had systems in place to ensure that people were protected from the risk of harm or abuse and staff were able to discuss action they would take if they thought there was any risk to people living in the home.

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's medicines were handled safely and were given to them in accordance with their prescriptions. Care plans showed that people's GPs and other healthcare professionals were contacted for advice about people’s health needs whenever necessary. We saw the service had responded promptly when people had experienced health problems.

End of life care was good with the staff ensuring a person’s final days were lived comfortably surrounded by the people who knew and cared for them.

Staff were recruited safely and there was evidence that staff received a proper induction and suitable training to do their job role effectively. All staff had been supervised in their role.

The provider had quality assurance processes including audits, resident/relatives meetings and quality questionnaires. The provider also had up to date policies that were updated regularly. The manager and provider regularly checked the quality of care at the home through audits.

Care plans were well organised and identified the care and support people required. We found they were informative about care people had received. They had been kept under review and updated when necessary to reflect people's changing needs. The service had a complaints procedure which was made available to people and their relatives on their admission to the home.