New Meppershall Care Home

Updated 26 May 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by two inspectors and an 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.

Service and service type

New Meppershall Care Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. New Meppershall Care Home is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with ten people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 16 members of staff including care workers, nursing staff, domestic care workers, senior care workers, maintenance workers, the cook, the registered manager, the quality manager and the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and numerous 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 looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 26 May 2022

About the service

New Meppershall Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to up to 81 people. The service provides support to older people who may be living with dementia, a sensory impairment or a physical disability. At the time of our inspection there were 72 people using the service.

New Meppershall Care Home is split over two adapted buildings and two floors. One building is designed to support people living with dementia, and the second building supports people who require personal and/or nursing care. Each building and floor have access to outside garden space and each bedroom has en-suite facilities.

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

There had been a lot of improvements made regarding the safety and quality of care that people were receiving at the service since the last inspection. One person told us, ‘‘I could not be without the staff working here. They are all so kind and I feel so lucky to live here.’’

People felt safe living at the service and staff were knowledgeable about how to safeguard people from abuse. Risks to people were assessed in areas such as falls or pressure area care and measures were put in place to mitigate risks as far as possible. There were enough staff to support people safely and people did not have to wait long for their care needs to be met. People were supported safely with their medicines, and improvements to audit systems regarding medicines was ongoing. The service looked clean and good infection control measures were followed.

The registered manager assessed people’s needs when they started using the service to ensure these could be met. Staff had the training and knowledge to do their jobs well. People were supported to eat and drink according to their support needs and preferences and gave positive feedback about their meals. Staff supported people to live healthy lives and see health professionals if this was necessary. The service was designed to meet the needs of people living there. 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.

People were positive about the kind and caring nature of the staff team. Staff were compassionate and friendly and treated people with respect and dignity. They supported people to make day to day choices about their support. People were supported to maintain their independence.

Staff had got to know people as individuals and supported them in line with their preferences, likes and dislikes. People were supported to understand information in line with their communication needs. Staff supported people to engage in social activities and interests if they chose to do so. There was a complaints procedure in place and complaints were promptly responded to. People received respectful and dignified care at the end of their life.

There were still improvements in progress in areas such as auditing medicines, communication with relatives and audits resulting in effective actions. The registered manager was aware that the service still needed to make these improvements and had plans in place to do so. There was a positive culture at the service. Staff felt well supported by the registered manager and were proud to be supporting people living at the service. People, relatives and the staff team were asked for feedback about the service. Staff linked and worked with other professionals to help ensure good outcomes for people.

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 16 August 2021). We found breaches of regulation in relation to the safe care and treatment of people using the service and the way in which the service was being governed and managed. 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

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the support people were receiving in relation to pressure area care and risk of falls. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. We inspected and found there had been improvements made at the service, so we widened the scope of the inspection to become a comprehensive inspection which included the key questions of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Please see all sections of this full report.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

During this inspection we carried out a separate thematic probe, which asked questions of the provider, people and their relatives, about the quality of oral health care support and access to dentists, for people living in the care home. This was to follow up on the findings and recommendations from our national report on oral healthcare in care homes that was published in 2019 called ‘Smiling Matters’. We will publish a follow up report to the 2019 'Smiling Matters' report, with up to date findings and recommendations about oral health, in due course.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.