The Pines Nursing Home

Updated 26 February 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: The inspection team consisted of two inspectors 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. The expert at this inspection had experience of caring for older people.

Service and service type:

The Pines Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at.

A registered manager was not 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. Day to day management of the service was carried out by an acting manager, who had applied to register with the CQC.

Notice of inspection

This was an unannounced inspection, which meant the provider and staff were not aware that we were coming.

What we did:

Before the inspection we used information, the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection we observed the support that people received, spoke with people and staff and gathered information relating to the management of the service.

This included:

• Notifications we received from the service

• Four staff recruitment files

• Training records

• Four people’s care records

• Records of accidents, incidents and complaints

• Audits and quality assurance reports

• We spoke with nine people using the service and one visitor

• We spoke with nine members of staff, including the acting manager, the regional manager, an administrator, an activities co-ordinator, a registered nurse, a maintenance worker, the chef and care staff.

Updated 26 February 2019

About the service:

The Pines Nursing Home is a care home registered to provide care and accommodation for 35 older persons with nursing and physical care needs. There were 34 people living at the service on the day of our inspection. For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

People’s experience of using this service:

People were happy and relaxed with staff. They said they felt safe and there were sufficient staff to support them. Checks were undertaken to ensure new staff were safe to work within the care sector.

Medicines were managed safely and in accordance with current regulations and guidance. There were systems in place to ensure that medicines had been stored, administered, audited and reviewed appropriately.

Staff were knowledgeable and trained in safeguarding adults and what action they should take if they suspected abuse was taking place. Staff had a good understanding of equality, diversity and human rights.

Risks associated with the environment and equipment had been identified and managed. Emergency procedures were in place in the event of fire and people knew what to do, as did the staff.

Staff had received essential training and there were opportunities for additional training specific to people’s needs, including the care of people with dementia and end of life care. Staff had received supervision meetings with their manager, and formal personal development plans were in place.

People were being supported to make decisions in their best interests. The registered manager and staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Accidents and incidents were recorded appropriately and steps taken to minimise the risk of similar events happening in the future.

People were encouraged and supported to eat and drink well. There was a varied daily choice of meals and people were able to give feedback and have choice in what they ate and drank. Health care was accessible for people.

People felt well looked after and supported. We observed friendly relationships had developed between people and staff. Care plans described people’s preferences and needs in relevant areas, including communication, and they were encouraged to be as independent as possible. People’s end of life care was discussed and planned and their wishes had been respected.

People chose how to spend their day and they took part in activities. They enjoyed the activities, which included one to one time scheduled for people in their rooms, exercise, quizzes and themed events, such as reminiscence sessions and visits from external entertainers. People were also encouraged to stay in touch with their families and receive visitors.

People were encouraged to express their views and had completed surveys. They also said they felt listened to and any concerns or issues they raised were addressed. Technology was used to assist people’s care. People's individual needs were met by the adaptation of the premises.

Staff were asked for their opinions on the service and whether they were happy in their work. They felt supported within their roles, describing an ‘open door’ management approach, where managers were always available to discuss suggestions and address problems or concerns.

The provider undertook quality assurance reviews to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of the service.

Why we inspected: This service was registered by CQC on 24 January 2018, due to a change in the legal entity and ownership, however many of the management and staff remained the same as the previous registration. The Pines Nursing Home has not been previously inspected under their current registration.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this home and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Good.