Fernside Hall Care Home

Updated 9 January 2021

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

As part of CQC’s response to care homes with outbreaks of coronavirus, we are conducting reviews to ensure that the Infection Prevention and Control practice was safe and the service was compliant with IPC measures. This was a targeted inspection looking at the IPC practices the provider has in place.

This inspection took place on 16 December 2020 and was announced.

Updated 9 January 2021

About the service

Fernside Hall Care Home is a residential care home providing personal and nursing care to 13 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service can support up to 24 people. The care home accommodates people in one adapted building.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe and staff understood safeguarding, and health and safety procedures. People had risk assessments although information about risks to people was not always comprehensive. There were enough staff to keep people safe, but staffing was sometimes stretched. Medicines were managed safely although staff did not always check robustly the administration guidance. Systems were in place to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. The service had been awarded the top food hygiene rating of ‘five’ which means they were found to have ‘very good’ standards.

Staff had the skills and knowledge to deliver care effectively and they received good support from colleagues and the registered manager. Systems were in place to make sure people’s health and nutritional needs were met. People lived in a pleasant environment; recent refurbishment has improved people's living experience.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of 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.

People who used the service and visitors provided positive feedback about the service and were complimentary about staff and management. Staff were confident people received high quality care and told us it was a good place to work.

People received person centred care and staff knew the people they were supporting well. Care plans usually identified how care should be delivered although there was some variation in detail. People enjoyed a range of activities within the service and the local community. Systems were in place to monitor and respond to formal complaints.

Feedback about the registered manager was consistently good. People who used the service and visitors told us they would recommend the service to others.

Quality management systems were in place although some of the issues picked up during the inspection had not been identified by the provider. The registered manager was responsive and where appropriate took swift action to address shortfalls. They were keen to develop and improve their systems and provide people with quality care.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 21/05/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on inspection timescales.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.