Hurstwood View

Updated 8 March 2019

The inspection:

• ‘We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.’

Inspection team:

•Two inspectors and an expert by experience conducted the inspection. 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:

• Hurstwood View is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

• The 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. 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. At the time of our inspection, there was a registered manager.

Notice of inspection:

• Our inspection was unannounced.

• We visited the service on the 13 February 2019.

What we did:

• Before our inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service including previous inspection reports. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

• We considered the information which had been shared with us by the local authority and other people, looked at safeguarding alerts and notifications which had been submitted. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

• We used a range of different methods to help us understand people's experiences. Some people who lived at the home had limited verbal communication. Therefore, as well as speaking with 18 people, 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 used the SOFI in communal areas throughout the inspection visit.

• We spoke with the registered manager, area manager, deputy manager, six members of staff, the activity coordinator, the maintenance person and the chef.

• During our inspection process we spoke to three visiting professionals who provided specialist support to people who lived in the home.

• To help us assess how people's care needs were being met, we reviewed eight people’s care plans and associated records. We also case tracked a further three people who received specialist diets and with other more complex needs, such as diabetes and pressure wounds. Case tracking involves talking to the person (if they are able), observation of their care, talking to staff directly supporting the person and examination of care records. We looked at other records, these included staff training and supervision records, staff recruitment records, medicines records, risk assessments, accidents and incident records, quality audits and policies and procedures.

Updated 8 March 2019

About the service:

Hurstwood View is registered to provide residential and nursing care for up to 55 older people. Accommodation was provided over two floors. The ground floor (Ashdown Walk) provided nursing care for people whilst the upper floor (Deer View Walk) provided care and support for people who lived with dementia. People required a range of help and support in relation to their nursing, dementia and care needs. There were 55 people living at the home at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service met characteristics of Good in all areas.

People, relatives and other stakeholders told us the quality of care and support was good. People told us, “It’s my home now, took a while to get used to it, but now I love it here,” and “Couldn’t be cared for better anywhere, excellent.”

• People told us they were safe. Comments included, “I’m able to be independent because staff support me so well, I’m safe here,” and “Very safe, I get my medicines on time and they monitor my health really well.”

• There were safeguarding systems and processes that protected people from harm. Staff knew the signs of abuse and what to do if they suspected it. One staff member said, “We receive training in safeguarding, I wouldn’t hesitate to raise a safeguarding if our residents were at risk.”

• There were sufficient staff to meet people’s individual needs: all of whom had passed robust recruitment procedures that ensured they were suitable for the role.

• There were systems in place to monitor people's safety and promote their health and wellbeing, these included health and social risk assessments and care plans. The provider ensured that when things went wrong, these incidents and accidents were recorded and lessons were learned.

• Medicines were managed safely. Medicine documentation and relevant policies followed best practice guidelines to ensure people received their medicines safely.

• Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to perform their roles effectively. People told us, “Staff know their stuff, look after me really well,” and “They are really well trained, I have to have help to get up and they do it so nicely.”

• People’s nutritional needs were monitored and reviewed. People had a choice of meals provided and staff knew people’s likes and dislikes. People gave positive feedback about the food. Comments included, “Plenty of choice and always tasty,” and “Homemade meals and cakes, I’ve put on weight since I have lived here.”

• The environment was comfortable and was adapted to meet people's needs. One person said, “It’s so beautiful here, warm, cosy and the views are lovely.”

• People and relatives told us staff were ‘kind’ and ‘caring’. They could express their views about the service and provide feedback. One person said, “A fantastic group of staff, everyone is wonderful, its calm and we can have a laugh.”

• People's care was personalised to their individual needs. There was sufficient detail in people's care documentation that enabled staff to provide responsive care.

• The service provided a variety of activities in line with people's interests and encouraged people's involvement. People, relatives and social care professionals told us staff engagement and interaction had a positive effect on people's quality of life. People told us they had been involved in choosing activities they enjoyed and people were excited about the plans for the spring gardening.

• Management and staff demonstrated a good understanding of and response to people's diverse needs.

• People told us that the service was well-led and that the registered manager was “Approachable and very kind,” and “Runs the place well.”

• The service had processes in place to measure, document, improve and evaluate the quality of care.

• Referrals were made appropriately to outside agencies when required. For example, GP visits, community nurses and speech and language therapists (SALT). Notifications had been completed to inform CQC and other outside organisations when events occurred.

• More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 03 June 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remained Good in all areas and Good overall.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner. We will follow up on our recommendations at the next scheduled inspection.