The inspection took place on 10 December 2015 and was unannounced.St Clements Nursing Home provides nursing care for up to 25 people, some of whom may be living with dementia. The home is adapted to meet people’s needs and is over two floors. Some rooms are shared. At the time of the inspection 23 people were living at the home. The registered manager told us this was the maximum number of people they could accommodate as some of the shared rooms were currently being used by only one person.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People benefitted from being supported by staff who were safely recruited, well trained and felt supported and valued in their work. There was consistently enough staff to safely meet people’s individual needs.
Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and knew the procedure for reporting any concerns both inside and outside of the service. Medicines were managed and stored safely and adherence to best practice was consistently applied. People received their medicines on time, safely and in the manner the prescriber intended.
People were supported by staff that were well trained, had been inducted effectively and received regular supervision. New staff were in the process of completing the new Care Certificate. Staff demonstrated the training they had been given.
Team work was evident and staff told us they were happy working at St Clements Nursing Home. They felt empowered to voice their opinions and told us they were well supported in their roles. They demonstrated a good knowledge of the people they supported and they assisted people with kindness, compassion and respect. People’s dignity and privacy was maintained and respected.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required to monitor the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and report on what we find. The service was not depriving people of their liberty unlawfully and worked within the principles of the MCA DoLS. However, staff knowledge was variable although people told us staff always asked their consent before assisting them. The service had made timely applications to the supervisory body.
People’s care plans were detailed and individualised. They contained important and relevant information to assist staff in meeting people’s needs in a way that was personalised. People and their relatives had been involved in making decisions around the care they needed and wished for. The changing needs of people were reviewed on a regular basis and people and their relatives were encouraged to be involved in this.
Working together with the community healthcare teams, people’s health and wellbeing was well supported and maintained. People had access to a variety of healthcare professionals and staff were prompt at requesting advice and intervention as required.
Although people told us they enjoyed the activities the service provided, we found that people’s individual social and leisure needs were not always met. The service encouraged people to maintain relationships with others and the service actively welcomed family members and visitors to the home.
The culture was one of respect, professionalism and openness. People felt listened to and were confident any concerns they may have would be addressed. Improvement and development of the service was important and people were involved in this. Effective systems were in place to monitor the service and the management team played an active part in gaining feedback from people on a regular basis.