Holly Bank Nursing Home

Updated 15 February 2020

The inspection

We carried out our inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. Our inspection checked whether the provider was 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.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

Holly Bank Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and the home’s administrator. We also spoke with eight people who used the service and ten relatives. We also made observations of care and support throughout the day.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with two members of care staff.

Updated 15 February 2020

About the service

Holly Bank Nursing Home is a residential care home providing personal care to 12 people at the time of the inspection.

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

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good for the safe, effective, responsive and well-led domains. There has been a change of rating to Outstanding for the caring domain.

People living at Holly Bank benefitted from an exceptionally caring, kind and compassionate service. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback about the quality of care and the management of the service, from both people and their relatives.

Staff promoted a strong person-centred culture, and were motivated to deliver care in such a way that exceeded both the expectations of both the people living at the home, and their relatives.

People were supported by staff who were familiar to them. Many staff had worked at the home for a long time and had forged genuine relationships with both people and their relatives as a result. Staff took the utmost care to provide care and support in a dignified way and with consideration to people’s independence.

The ethos of the service was to provide a home from home. Without exception, people told us they genuinely thought of Holly Bank as their own home, some described it as being even ‘better than home.’ Relatives were keen to tell it was ‘a home from home’ for their loved one.

The service strived for people to maintain relationships with those who were important to them, relatives told us how they could call in at any time and no matter what time of day or night, were always made to feel welcome.

Staff showed great empathy, not just for the people they supported, but also people’s friends and family. Relatives told us that staff were a great source of emotional support and had made their loved one’s transition from home to Holly Bank, a seamless one.

Staff fully understood people's preferences, wishes and choices, and people were encouraged and supported to express their views

People were supported to be a part of their local community. The home was situated close to local amenities, such as parks and shops, which staff helped people to access.

People were supported in such a way that allowed them 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 were well supported in their role with appropriate training and supervision. Staff had also received additional training to meet the specific needs of the people they were caring for.

Checks and audits were carried out to determine the quality and safety of the care and support being provided. Risk to people was appropriately assessed and measures were put in place to support people safely, whilst still respecting their freedom.

The registered manager and registered provider had met their legal requirements with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). They promoted person centred care and transparency within the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

At our last inspection, the service was rated "Good." (Report published July 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection.

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.