Bay House Care Ltd

Updated 27 April 2023

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

This inspection was undertaken by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Bay House 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. Bay House 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 provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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 reviewed documentation, inspected the safety of the premises, and carried out observations in communal areas. We spoke and met with 9 people who used the service about their experiences of the care and support they received. We spoke with 8 members of staff including the registered manager, and care staff, and three visitors.

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. This was undertaken in the communal areas of Bay House.

We looked at a range of records. This included the care records for 5 people, medicine records and 4 staff files in relation to recruitment. Policies and procedures, environmental safety and information relating to the governance of the service were also reviewed. We also spoke 3 healthcare professionals during the inspection process.

Updated 27 April 2023

About the service

Bay House Nursing Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 36 older people and people living with dementia in one adapted building. Accommodation is provided over three floors. At the time of our inspection there were 33 people using the service.

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

Systems and processes to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided were in place. Whilst we found there were areas identified as needing to be improved, these were immediately actioned. This was regarding the management of declined medicines and a clear rationale for a person being offered a pureed diet. The registered manager provided an action plan mitigated risk.

People received safe care and support by staff trained to recognise signs of abuse or risk and understood what to do to support people safely. One person said, “I feel safe here, the staff are very kind.” Another said, “I’m safe and well looked after.” Staff had care plans and risk assessments that meant peoples’ safety and well-being were protected.

People were supported to take positive risks, to ensure they had as much choice and control of their lives as possible. We observed medicines being given safely to people by appropriately trained staff, who had been assessed as competent. The home was well maintained and comfortable. There were enough suitably trained and experienced staff to meet people's needs. Safe recruitment practices had been followed before staff started working at the service.

The premises were clean, comfortable, and well maintained. The provider ensured that when things went wrong, accidents were recorded, and lessons were learned.

The home had an effective management team which provided good leadership for staff and communicated effectively with people, relatives, and professionals. Staff were positive about their roles and felt valued for the work they did.

The views of people who lived at the home, their relatives and staff were encouraged and acted upon by the management team. People and their relatives felt able to raise any concerns they had and were confident these would receive an appropriate response.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic. The manager was aware of the principles of RSRCRC. At the time of the inspection people living with learning disabilities and/or autism required nursing 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 (Published 22 December 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and the age of the last rating. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

Follow up

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