Martin House

Updated 1 October 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

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 took place over two days. The first day of the inspection was conducted by three inspectors, a nurse specialist advisor 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 second day of the inspection was a review of how medicines were managed and was conducted by a member of the CQC medicines inspection team.

Service and service type

Martin House is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. Martin House is a care home with nursing care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

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

We looked at all the information we held about Martin House including notifications of significant events and the provider's action plan following the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We met and spoke with 12 people who lived at the service and staff on duty, who included nurses, senior care workers, care workers, the activities coordinator and members of the management team. We observed how people were being cared for and supported. Our observations included 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 looked at records used by the provider to manage the service, which included the care plans for 16 people who used the service, records of accidents, incidents, safeguarding alerts and complaints, meeting minutes and records of staff recruitment, training and support.

We looked at how medicines were managed. We also looked at the environment.

Updated 1 October 2022

About the service

Martin House is a care home with nursing for up to 75 older people. The service is divided into five self-contained units. Each unit was for up to 15 people. At the time of the inspection, 57 people were living at the service. Some people had nursing needs, some were living with dementia and some people were being cared for at the end of their lives.

The service is managed by Minster Care Group, a private organisation managing care and nursing homes in England, Scotland and Wales.

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

People were happy living at the service. They liked the staff and felt their needs were met. They were given choices and received personalised care. The staff treated them with respect and planned care which reflected their needs, choices and interests.

The staff felt well supported. They had the training and information they needed to care for people. Systems to recruit staff helped to make sure they were suitable and had the skills needed for their roles.

People were safely cared for. Risks within the environment were regularly assessed and action taken to maintain safety. The staff assessed and planned for risks related to people's health, wellbeing and needs. They worked with medical professionals to monitor people's health and keep them safe. People received their medicines safely and as prescribed.

People had enough to eat and drink. There were planned social events and activities. People lived in a comfortable and clean environment.

There were suitable systems for dealing with accidents, incidents, safeguarding alerts and complaints. The management team had a good overview of the service and worked with staff to learn from these events. There were a range of audits and checks to help monitor and improve the quality of the service.

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 requires improvement (published 31 July 2021).

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

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 19 May 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve person-centred care, safe care and treatment, consent to care and treatment and good governance.

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.

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 requires improvement to good. 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 Martin House on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.