Background to this inspection
Updated
25 December 2020
The inspection
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 two inspectors and a professional specialist advisor with a background in nursing.
Service and service type
St Peters Court 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 had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with two people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with twelve members of staff including the registered manager, compliance officer, registered nurses, senior care workers, care workers and the chef.
We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and two people’s medicines records. We looked at staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training and supervision data, risk management information and quality assurance records.
Updated
25 December 2020
About the service
St Peters Court is a nursing home providing personal and nursing care for up to 24 people aged 65 and over, in one purpose-built accommodation. At the time of the inspection 17 people were living in the service, this included people living with dementia.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The provider did not have robust safety and quality monitoring processes in place. Records were not always updated, and the provider had not ensured staff had up to date knowledge and skills to support them in their role.
We have made a recommendation about quality and safety monitoring processes.
People and relatives told us they felt safe in the service and staff were knowledgeable about how to raise concerns. Risks to people had been assessed; however, where concerns had been highlighted, the provider had not always checked to ensure staff practices were keeping people safe.
Staff were safely recruited. We received mixed feedback about whether there was enough staff on shift and people were sometimes supported by agency staff alongside regular permanent staff.
People received their medicines as prescribed and staff had clear information about how people liked to be supported.
Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and told us they knew how to minimise people’s risk of infection through safe infection prevention and control processes.
Relatives spoke positively about the service and felt involved in people’s care. The provider had sought support from other health professionals and put measures in place to learn from incidents and look at how they could improve the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 30 October 2019)
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to people’s safety and the understanding and management of safeguarding concerns in the service. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
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 coronavirus and other infection outbreaks effectively.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the well-led section of this full report
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St Peters Court on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.