Hill View Care Home

Updated 19 May 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 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 an inspector and a specialist advisor (nurse).

Service and service type

The service 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 did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The provider’s regional support manager had been managing the home since January 2022, in the home’s manager’s absence. When a service has a registered manager, 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 their registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send to us to give us 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who lived at the home and four visiting relatives, to gain their feedback about the care provided. We also spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, three nurses, three care staff and the administrator. We reviewed a range of records, including five people’s care records and a selection of medicines records. We looked at two staff recruitment files and staff supervision and appraisal records.

After the inspection

We reviewed a variety of records related to the management of the service, including policies and audits.

We contacted three community health care professionals who visited the service regularly for their feedback about the care and support provided.

Updated 19 May 2022

About the service

Hill View Care Home is a residential care home which provides personal care and nursing care for up to 45 older people, younger adults, people with a physical disability, mental health support needs, and people living with dementia. Accommodation is provided over two floors and a passenger lift is available to provide access to both floors. At the time of the inspection 31 people were living at the home.

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

People told us they felt safe living at the home and there were enough staff to provide support when they needed it. Staff followed safe infection control practices, including wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect people from COVID-19 and the risk of cross infection. Staff were recruited safely and knew the action to take if people were at risk of abuse or avoidable harm. Staff managed people’s medicines safely, in line with national guidance. The safety of the home environment was checked regularly.

People received support which reflected their needs and risks. Staff received the induction and training they needed to support people well. 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 received support with their dietary and healthcare needs and were referred for specialist support when they needed it. We received positive feedback from community professionals about the support provided. The home environment was purpose built to enable people to remain as independent as possible. The provider had made some improvements to the environment since taking over the service and further improvements were planned.

People told us staff were caring, kind and treated them well. We observed staff treating people with respect and encouraging them to be independent and make decisions about their care when they were able to. Staff respected people's right to privacy, dignity and confidentiality. Care plans included information about people’s backgrounds and diversity, to guide staff about what was important to them.

Staff provided people with personalised care that reflected their needs and preferences. People’s care needs were reviewed regularly, and documentation was updated to guide staff. Staff knew the people they cared for and encouraged them to make choices when they could. The provider managed concerns and complaints appropriately. People were happy with the range of activities available at the home. End of life care documentation needed to be improved to ensure it reflected people’s end of life care wishes, we have made a recommendation about this.

The manager and staff were clear about their responsibilities and focussed on providing people with high quality, individualised care. The service worked in partnership with a variety of community professionals to ensure people received any specialist support they needed. Management sought people’s views about the service and acted upon them. People, relatives and staff felt the management of the service had improved significantly since the regional support manager had taken over the day to day running of the home. The regular checks and audits completed by management were effective in ensuring appropriate standards of quality and safety were maintained at the home.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good (published 7 April 2020).

We also completed a targeted infection prevention and control inspection of the service on 10 November 2020 (published 18 November 2020) and were assured that people were receiving safe care which protected them from the risk of cross infection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the service’s date of registration under the new provider. The inspection was also prompted in part due to a number of anonymous concerns received about a variety of issues, including neglect, inappropriate staff conduct and the management of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.

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 until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.