St Joseph's

Updated 18 March 2023

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 was carried out by 2 inspectors 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.

Service and service type

St Joseph’s is a 'care home'. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing and/or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement dependent on their registration with us. St Joseph’s is a care home without 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

The inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority, professionals who work with the service, an independent advocacy service 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.

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with 9 people who lived at the home and 9 of their relatives. We used 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 spoke with 11 members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, 3 senior care leads, 1 care lead, 4 care assistants and a member of the housekeeping team. We spoke with 2 external healthcare professionals for feedback on their engagement with the service.

We reviewed 5 people's care records and 5 people’s medicines records. We also reviewed records relating to training, recruitment and quality assurance.

Updated 18 March 2023

About the service

St Joseph's is a residential care home, providing personal care and accommodation for up to 59 people. It provides care to older people, some of whom have dementia. Care is provided on four 'wings', known as Jade, Ruby, Topaz and Pearl, across two floors. Short stay 'respite' care is also available. Each 'wing' has a communal lounge, dining area and kitchenette. There are also spacious communal conservatories. The home has secure gardens people can access. At the time of our inspection visit 54 people lived at the home.

St Joseph's is part of Father Hudson's Care, which is the social care agency of the Catholic Archdiocese for Birmingham, a registered charity. The home has it's own Chapel and offers daily Mass for those wishing to attend.

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

There were enough staff to provide safe and effective care. The registered manager reviewed staffing levels with senior staff to ensure they accurately reflected people’s needs. Staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and people and their relatives felt the care provided at St Joseph’s was safe.

Risks to people’s health and well-being had been identified and thoroughly assessed. Records contained very detailed information on how staff should mitigate risks to people’s physical and emotional health and how to identify any deterioration in their medical conditions. Medicines were ordered, stored and disposed of correctly and administered by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent in safe medicines practice.

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.

The provider and registered manager had systems and processes in place to audit the quality of the services provided. The management team were knowledgeable and familiar with the needs of the people they supported, and staff spoke of a positive culture which motivated them to deliver person centred care. Relatives told us communication was good and they felt able to share feedback and ideas.

Managers and senior staff promoted a culture of honesty and learning from mistakes. Accidents, incidents and safeguarding concerns were reviewed to identify any organisational learning. Healthcare professionals spoke positively about the working relationships they had developed with the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 8 August 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service which indicated improvements had been made since our last inspection. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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.

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

Follow up

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