The Hamlets

Updated 12 September 2023

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 Care Act 2014.

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 was carried out by 2 inspectors.

Service and service type

The Hamlets is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under 1 contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. The Hamlets is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

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.

What we did before the 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 used the information we had about the service to formulate our 'planning tool' and plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During our inspection we spoke with 1 person who lived at the home and 4 relatives by telephone, the operations manager, registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. 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 reviewed a range of records. This included 6 people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and 5 agency profiles. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. The provider and registered manager sent us evidence of how they had mitigated risk, and details of the action they would take going forward.

Updated 12 September 2023

About the service

The Hamlets is a residential care and nursing home in Liverpool, providing personal and nursing care to people who may or may not be living with dementia and people with mental health needs. The service can support up to 30 people and there were 27 people living at the home at the time of our inspection.

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

Governance and quality assurance systems had improved since our last inspection and there were more robust auditing systems in place.

People were no longer exposed to risk of harm because their risk assessments and records were reflective of their current needs and contained sufficient detail to help guide staff with how to support them safely. Medications were given in line with best practice guidance. Accident and Incident logs had improved since the last inspection; and were regularly being checked for patterns and trends.

Some bedrooms still required decoration, however there was no broken furniture in rooms. There had been an agreed refurbishment programme for communal areas which was due to take place soon. Infection control prevention was improved, and the home looked and smelled cleaner. There were enough suitably qualified staff to support people.

People's privacy was respected. People told us they liked the staff and they felt safe at the home. Relatives told us they felt the home had improved since our last inspection.

Staff liked the registered manager felt they had made good progress in the home.

The registered manager understood their duty to share information in an open and honest manner. Safeguarding systems and policies were in place and staff could describe the action they would take if they felt people were at risk of abuse.

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.

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 Inadequate (published 17 January 2023).

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

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 the provider had made improvements and were no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 11 November 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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.

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 changed from Inadequate to Requires Improvement. 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 The Hamlets 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.