Archived: Southwater Residential Home

Updated 19 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an assistant inspector. On the first day of the inspection one of the medicines team was part of the inspection.

Service and service type:

Southwater Residential Home is a “care home”. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as 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. They were also the registered provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was unannounced.

The inspection took place on 24 and 25 June 2019.

What we did before inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.. We reviewed the notifications we had received. These are events within the service the provider is required to tell us about. We read the previous March and December 2018 inspection reports and reviewed information shared with us by the local authority.

During the inspection

We spoke with the four people living at the service and reviewed their medicines and care records. We spoke with the registered provider, the house manager, the deputy manager who was responsible for supporting the provider, and three care staff. Information related to the running of the service was examined, for example, maintenance documents, staffing information and complaints. We also looked at the audits and quality assurance processes at the service.

Updated 19 July 2019

About the service

Southwater Residential Home is a care home providing care and accommodation for up to 12 people. The home provides support to older people. On the days of our inspection, there were four people living at the home.

The home is a large property situated in Paignton, Devon. There was a communal lounge, dining room and a front and rear conservatory. There was a garden.

People’s experience of using the service

People lived in a service that was continually improving but the governance systems in place had not yet been embedded into practice. The areas of concern we found during the inspection had not been identified by the provider’s own quality checking systems. We found aspects of the environment’s safety had not been identified as a potential risk to people. We found further improvement was required to people’s records and care plans. Prompt action was taken during the inspection period to address these areas.

People using the service benefitted from caring, dedicated staff. People we spoke with all confirmed they were happy and well looked after at Southwater Residential Home.

People and their families were placed at the heart of the service and involved in decisions as far as possible. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

People’s care was provided safely. The staff team were consistent, staff knew people well and supported them to move safely around the service if needed, and when they were out of the home.

People’s medicines were well managed.

People’s risks were known and managed well, promoting independence as far as possible. However, professionals were concerned changes in people’s risk and health were not always noted promptly and acted upon swiftly.

People were protected from discrimination because staff knew how to safeguard people. People told us they felt safe. Staff knowledge of people meant they were alert to signs of change which may indicate someone was not happy.

People lived in a service which had a welcoming atmosphere and was led by a committed provider and staff team.

The service were working closely with the local authority, commissioners and primary care to improve standards of care.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 13 December 2018).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. The provider had conditions on their registration which included monthly reports to the Commission.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made in many areas, however not enough improvement had been made in all areas and there was still a breach of regulations.

The last rating for this service was requires improvement. The service remains requires improvement. The service has been rated requires improvement for the last two inspections.

Why we inspected:

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about people’s care, record keeping, medicine practices and people’s nutrition. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements in some areas. Please see Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-Led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

The provider took action to mitigate the risks related to the environment and security following the inspection. They were working to address the other areas identified in inspection feedback. Monthly reporting to the Commission remains in place.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Southwater Residential Home on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement:

We have identified breaches in relation to Good Governance in the Well Led report section at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned based on the rating. If we receive any concerns, we may bring our inspection forward.

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