Archived: Peter Shore Court

Updated 27 August 2014

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 was meeting the legal requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. It was also part of the first testing phase of the new inspection process CQC is introducing for adult social care services.

The inspection team was made up of three people - a lead inspector, a specialist advisor who was a qualified pharmacist with a specialism in dementia care and an expert by experience. This is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

The team spoke with six staff members, three managers and three relatives who were visiting on the day of the inspection. We also spoke with many of the people who lived in the home, eight were able to give their views and we observed the others in the communal areas of the home to try to gauge how they felt about their surroundings and the people who lived with them or supported them. We reviewed four people’s care files, three staff supervision records and looked at medication records, fluid and food intake monitoring forms, many of the home’s policies and procedures, as well as reviewing the premises. We also viewed the home’s computerised records and audit system. Some of our observations took place at lunchtime and some during a group activity session which was facilitated by an external organisation.

When the home had been inspected in November 2013 it had been found to be meeting all the regulations, but a lack of availability of activities had been noted and some people were not helped to engage with their surroundings as much as they could have been. On inspection in May 2013 the home was also found to be meeting all the regulations.

On this occasion we did not speak to any external stakeholders prior to our visit due to the timing of the inspection and we did not receive the Provider Information Return in advance due to technical issues.

Updated 27 August 2014

Peter Shore House is situated on a garden square near to Stepney Green tube station. It provides care home accommodation (without nursing) for up to 41 people, the majority of whom live with dementia. Most people who use the service come from the local area and represent its diversity. The premises are spacious, with plenty of room to meet people’s mobility needs and a choice of lounges.

We found that people who used the service were treated as individuals and staff members were very caring.  The three relatives we spoke with praised the care provided. There was a calm and relaxed atmosphere on the day of our inspection and we observed that the majority of people were content, with staff seeking to engage them in the life of the home or daily self-care tasks whenever possible. The provider had worked hard to expand the range of activities on offer; we saw an excellent example of a group activity run by an external organisation which managed to engage a wide range of people. We saw that the provider had plans to continue to deliver a good variety of activities.

In most areas we saw evidence of good reporting and recording by staff and monitoring by managers, but a less developed process for analysis and feedback to the staff team. This meant that opportunities for learning from past events were missed.

The provider carried out regular audits to monitor the standard of care provided. There were systems in place to ensure medication was safely administered, although some aspects of recording could be improved. Food and fluid intake monitoring needed to be more consistent.

We judged that, although some staff needed more help to embed the required skills and knowledge about the Mental Capacity Act into their day to day practice,  the provider was meeting the basic requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. People’s human rights in this area were, therefore, recognised, respected and promoted.