Merevale House Residential Home

Updated 21 September 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

We inspected this service with 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

Merevale House Residential 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. Merevale House is a care home without 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

On the first day of our inspection visit the inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at information we had received about the service from members of the public and family members of people who were living at Merevale House. We sought feedback from partner agencies and professionals. We requested information from the provider about the running of their service called the 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. However, we were unable to review the PIR as the provider had not received our requests to submit this information to CQC. We therefore asked the provider questions about their service at our inspection visit, that would have been contained in the PIR. We used all this information to plan and conduct our inspection visit.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who lived at the service and two people's relatives. We also spoke with nine members of staff including the chef, a team leader, the registered manager and the provider. We received feedback from two health professionals.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records in detail. We checked multiple medicines records, three staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records related to the management of the service such as quality assurance checks.

Updated 21 September 2022

About the service

Merevale House Residential Home is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care to up to 31 people. The service provides support to adults of all ages with their mental health needs, including people who are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 29 people using the service.

Merevale House comprises three buildings named the house, the cottage and the lodge. All three buildings are accessible and share communal gardens.

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

Systems to identify areas of improvement could have been more effective, to ensure improvements were identified and made promptly. Improvement plans were in place to meet fire regulations and to improve compliance and audits at the home.

People were supported by staff who understood what action to take if they had any concerns for their safety. Staff were provided with the guidance required so they could support people to manage their risks. There were enough staff to care for people and spend time chatting with them, so people did not feel isolated. The registered manager undertook checks before new staff worked at the home, so they could be assured new staff were suitable to work there. People were supported to have the medicines they needed by staff who had been trained to do this. Systems were in place to reduce the likelihood of the spread of infections. The registered manager had worked with people and their visitors to ensure people continued to receive visits safely. Accidents and incidents were regularly reviewed so any lessons would be learnt.

People’s needs were assessed and informed through work with their relatives and other health and social care professionals. Staff monitored people’s health needs and advocated for them so they would enjoy the best health outcomes possible. Where staff had any concerns about people’s fluid or nutritional intake plans were developed to support them. 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.

The registered manager and provider undertook checks on the quality and safety of the care provided. Staff told us the culture at the home was open and focused on the needs of the people living at the home. This helped to ensure people had good outcomes. The management were fully engaged with our inspection and committed to providing high standards of care.

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 good overall published (December 2020).

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Merevale House Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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