Mersey Parks Care Home

Updated 28 June 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

The inspection team consisted of three inspectors, a medicines inspector 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

Mersey Parks 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. Mersey parks 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.

Inspection activity started on 12 May 2022 and ended on 18 May 2022. We visited the service on 12 May 2022.

What we did before inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed all the information we held about the service including statutory notifications the service has sent and feedback we had received. We contacted the local authority for additional information and feedback. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke to 12 relatives by telephone. We spoke with five members of staff including the chef and housekeeping staff. 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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, maintenance records and other information the service sent. We contacted more staff to obtain further feedback about their experience of working at Mersey Parks Care Home

Updated 28 June 2022

About the service

Mersey Parks Care Home is a residential care and nursing home providing personal and nursing care to 102 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 120 people. The care home is set across four separate single floor units and an office block. One unit provides nursing care, two units provide residential care for people living with dementia and the fourth unit provides residential care.

Each unit comprises of various communal areas, including living and dining areas, adapted bathrooms and single bedrooms with ensuite facilities.

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

We have made a recommendation with regards to the recording of medicines administration. People told us they felt safe and happy living at Mersey parks. One person said, “The staff make me feel safe.” Staff were recruited safely. Incidents and accidents were appropriately recorded and analysed for patterns and trends. Risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and reviewed appropriately. Safety checks on the environment were in place and robust. Staff could clearly describe the course of action they would take if they felt someone was being harmed or abused. Our observations showed there were enough staff deployed to ensure people were kept safe, and call bells were answered in a timely manner.

We have made a recommendation with regards to the information in some people’s care records. People were supported to eat a balanced diet. We did receive some mixed feedback regarding the food which we fed back to the registered manager. People were supported to have maximum choice and control over 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 appropriately trained and supervised to enable them to carry out their roles.

All people, without exception, knew who the registered manager was. Staff told us the registered manager had been a positive influence in the home. The registered manager welcomed feedback and was clearly proud of their achievements up to now at the home, however acknowledged there were still some areas they would like to improve further. All notifications had been sent to CQC, and the registered manager understood what was expected of them. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the home and the ethos was better and more relaxed. Staff felt they could approach the registered manager to help them develop further in their roles or if they had any concerns.

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 29 March 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. 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.

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.

Why we inspected

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.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements and to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last four consecutive inspections under this provider. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Mersey Parks 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.