Archived: St Vincent's

Updated 17 October 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on the 19 and 20 September 2017 and was unannounced.

The inspection team was made up of one inspector, one specialist nurse in the care of older people 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.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information held on the service such as notifications that told us about specific events registered people have to tell us about. We also reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) which is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection, we spoke with 12 people and four visitors/relatives about their experience at St Vincent’s. We reviewed the care of seven people in detail and checked they were receiving the care as expected. We sat with people at lunch on both days and completed a Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI) during lunch on the second day. SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We also observed how staff related to people.

We spoke with nine staff, reviewed three personal files and their training. We reviewed how the registered manager was ensuring staff training, supervision, appraisals and competency were being planned and taking place. We spoke with four health and social care professionals and one trustee. The registered manager, business manager and administrator were present to answer our questions.

We reviewed how the registered provider and manager were ensuring the safe running and quality of the service. This included records of how people and staffs’ view was sought.

Family members have completed four questionnaires about the service.

Updated 17 October 2017

This inspection took place on the 19 and 20 September 2017 and was unannounced. We last inspected St Vincent’s on the 27 and 28 May 2015 and rated the service as Good overall. Safe was rated as Requires improvement due to the administration of people’s medicines without them knowing not being as robust as needed to ensure they were safe and in line with guidance. We had recommended the registered manager review their practice in line with current guidance. Effective, Responsive and Well-led were rated as Good. Caring was Outstanding. On this inspection we found all concerns in respect of people’s medicines had been met.

St Vincent’s is a nursing home that can provide care up to 25 older people. On this inspection, 22 older people were living at the service.

A registered manager was employed to manage the service locally. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

On this inspection, we have continued to rate the service as Good.

Why this service remained Good:

On this inspection, we found that the home was rated Good in respect of delivering care that was safe, effective, responsive and well-led. Caring continued to be rated as Outstanding.

People continued to receive care from staff who were knowledgeable and had the skills required to support them. Staff were competent and trained well. People had the support needed to help them have maximum choice and control of their lives in the least restrictive way possible. Policies and systems in the service supported good practice. People's wellbeing and healthcare needs were monitored by the staff and people accessed healthcare professionals when required.

People, visitors and professionals all described the care in outstanding terms. One person said of the staff, “Diamonds, I call them. They do everything for the patients’ comfort.” People’s end of life care had been re-accredited by the local hospice and was described to us as of a ‘gold standard’ by staff specialising in palliative care. A relative whose mother had died in the home earlier this year said, “I could not fault the end of life care given to my mum and our family”.

We observed staff being patient, responsive and extremely kind. There was a calm atmosphere in the service. People's privacy was respected. People, where possible, or their representatives, were involved in decisions about the care and support they received. People new to the service were supported emotionally and involved in deciding how they wanted their treatment needs to be met.

Care people received was personalised and was responsive to people's individual needs. Each person was able to make choices about their day to day lives. Any concerns or complaints were quickly acted on and investigated. People were supported to take part in a range of activities according to their individual interests. People’s faith and cultural needs were respected and met.

The service is well led. People and staff told us the registered manager was approachable. The registered manager and provider sought people's views to make sure people were at the heart of any changes within the home. The registered manager and provider had monitoring systems in place which enabled them to identify good practices and areas of improvement.

Further information is in the full report which the registered manager will be available to give you a copy of or it can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk