The inspection was carried out on 26 and 27 October 2017 and was unannounced on the first day and announced on the second day.Temple Ewell Nursing Home is a privately owned care home providing nursing care and support to up to 44 adults who have nursing needs and who may also be living with dementia. The rooms are located on two floors, the main entrance is on the first floor accessed by a lift. There are private gardens with seating, patio areas and parking. During the inspection there were 33 people living at the service.
There was a registered manager working at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 28 February 2017 and Temple Ewell was rated ‘Requires Improvement’ and ‘Inadequate’ in the ‘Safe’ domain. There were breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014 Regulations. We issued a warning notice relating to safe care and treatment. We issued requirement notices relating to good governance, staffing, person centred care and consent. We asked the provider to take action and the provider sent us an action plan. The provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breaches. We undertook this inspection to check that they had followed their plan to confirm that they now met legal requirements. The provider had met three of the previous breaches, however, there were two continued breaches of regulations. The provider had met the legal requirements of the warning notice.
Previously, risks related to people’s health, care and support had not always been assessed or mitigated. Improvements had been made, there were detailed risk assessments in place for people’s health care needs such as epilepsy. However, there were not personalised risk assessments to provide staff with guidance to keep people’s skin healthy, or how to move people safely.
Previously, care plans had not contained details of people’s choices and preferences. Care plans now contained information about people’s preferences for example, when people liked to get up and go to bed. Each person’s care plan had been reviewed but changes had not always been made to reflect the support being given to the person. Some people’s records were not accurate and there was a risk that staff would not have all the information needed to support people in a person centred way. Staff knew people well and provided support when people needed it.
Medicines had not been consistently ordered, recorded and managed safely at the last inspection. Some improvements had been made, however, there were still shortfalls with the recording of medicines. People had not always received their medicines as prescribed. People’s health was monitored and staff had referred people to healthcare professionals. This had improved since the last inspection. People were supported to eat a balanced diet to remain as healthy as possible.
Improvements to the training and supervision of staff had been made since the last inspection. Staff had received supervision, appraisals and training appropriate to their role including specialist health care training such as diabetes. Staff told us that they felt supported by the provider and management team and they were visible within the service. Staff were recruited safely and there were sufficient staff on duty to meet people’s needs.
At the last inspection, the provider had not been working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, improvements had been made. The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor the operation of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Applications for DoLS had been made in line with guidelines. Mental capacity assessments had been completed and reviewed to consider any changes in people’s capacity.
When people were unable to make decisions for themselves, relatives, doctors and other specialists were involved in making decisions in their best interest. Previously, this had not been recorded, improvements had been made and best interest decisions were recorded.
Staff knew people well and provided support when people needed it. However, people had mixed views about the attitude of some staff and this was observed during the inspection. People were not always respected by some staff. Staff were familiar with people’s routines and preferences. Visitors told us they were always made to feel welcome.
At the last inspection, the quality assurance systems in place had not been effective in identifying shortfalls. At this inspection, some improvements had been made. Additional audits had been completed and shortfalls had been identified. Action plans had been put in place but these had not always been met or been effective. The shortfalls identified by independent quality monitoring had not been rectified and the actions taken following medicines audits had not been effective.
Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed to identify any patterns or trends and action had been taken to prevent further incidents. Checks had been completed on the environment and equipment used by staff to keep people safe. There were detailed personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEP) in place, to ensure people could be evacuated safely in an emergency.
Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to protect people from harm and abuse. They were aware of the whistle blowing policy and were confident that any concerns raised would be dealt with appropriately. The registered manager had raised safeguarding alerts when appropriate.
People, staff, relatives and stakeholders were given the opportunity to give their views and suggestions about the service. The quality assurance surveys had been analysed and an action plan put in place to address concerns that were raised.
The provider had a complaints policy and this was available to people and relatives. Complaints had been received since the last inspection and the policy had been followed. The complaints had been used as a learning process for staff and management.
There were planned activities available and people who stayed in their room received one to one time. The provider had employed additional staff to increase the activities available to people.
Services that provide health and social care to people are required to inform the Care Quality Commission, (CQC), of important events that happen in the service. This is so we could check that appropriate action had been taken. The registered manager was aware that they had to inform CQC of significant events in a timely way.
It is a legal requirement that a provider's latest CQC inspection report rating is displayed at the service where a rating has been given. This is so that people, visitors and those seeking information about the service can be informed of our judgments. We found the provider had conspicuously displayed their rating in the entrance hall.
We found a number of continued breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.