We inspected this service on 6 and 13 December 2017. Ramping Cat Nursing Home provides personal and nursing care and accommodation for up to 39 older people. On the day of our inspection there were 34 people using the service. That included six people staying in Hub beds. Hub beds are placements following a hospital stay when people await a care package to be put in place for when they go back to their own homes. The service has not been fully compliant with all regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations and has been rated as not well-led since December 2014. The provider had been previously issued warning notices around their poor governance following our inspections in September 2015 and March 2016. Systems and processes to monitor and improve the quality of the service have remained ineffective. The consistency of the quality of the governance systems operated by the provider has been a repeated concern. Sufficient improvements have not been made and sustained to ensure the provider was able to meet the requirements of the regulations.
As a result of this people have not always been protected from a risk of harm. The provider was issued a warning notice around poor medicines management in June 2015. This was followed by subsequent requirement notices in relation to other aspects of medicine management and safety. Ramping Cat Nursing Home was rated Requires Improvement in the Safe domain in all of the last five consecutive inspections. The service has been repeatedly rated as not always safe since December 2014.
At the last inspection on 22 November 2016, we found a repeated breach of Regulation 17 in respect of good governance and quality assurance systems. We asked the provider to take action to make sure their quality assurance systems became effective. At this inspection we found the provider had again failed to make and sustain sufficient improvements to the service to ensure their governance systems remained effective.
People were still not always protected from the risk of harm such as a risk of choking and malnutrition. The provider did not ensure people were protected from the risk of harm in case of an emergency such as a fire. People's medicines were still not always managed in line with the good practice guidance. The provider did not ensure the necessary improvements were made, sustained and lessons learned where necessary.
We also identified further concerns such as staff did not always have a good understanding of equality and diversity and did not always provide a meaningful approach to people.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.
People were supported to have control of their daily lives and we observed staff giving people choice. We however found some best interest decisions were not always made in line with good practice guidance. We identified when complaints could not be successfully resolved at the service’s level there was a lack of provider’s involvement to ensure the complainant’s satisfaction.
There were sufficient staff and staff received ongoing training and supervision however this was not always fully effective. Staff were encouraged to attend team meetings and they complimented the team work. The provider followed safe recruitment practices.
People complimented the food and the observed meal service was positive. People were supported to access external health professionals when required. We received positive feedback from external professionals that worked with the team at the service.
People that were supported by the team at the service told us they felt safe. People told us they received service that met their needs and they spoke positively of staff. People’s confidentiality was respected.
People complimented the atmosphere at the service, they told us staff worked well together and there was a ‘very nice feel around’. The management and the staff demonstrated positive approach and responsiveness to our feedback.
The overall rating for this service is 'Inadequate' and the service is in special measures. Services in special measures will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel their provider's registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months. The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.
If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve.
This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration. For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months.
If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.
We identified three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We have worked closely with our partner agencies and the home and have identified significant improvements to the service provided. We will continue to work with our partner agencies and to monitor the service through the condition we have already placed on their registration which requires them to send us monthly updates in respect of their quality assurance processes to ensure this improvement is sustained.