Archived: Linthorpe Nursing Home

Updated 25 September 2020

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 as part of our Thematic Review of infection control and prevention in care homes.

Inspection team

One inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. 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

Linthorpe Nursing 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 who registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. Having consideration of the coronavirus pandemic, we gave the registered manager a short period of notice of our arrival. This was to ensure safe systems were in place to protect everyone.

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 and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We observed the care provided to people. We spoke with six relatives over the telephone about their experiences of the care provided.

We spoke with eight members of staff. This included the registered manager, deputy manager, administrative support, care workers, kitchen staff, housekeepers and maintenance staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple people’s medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 25 September 2020

About the service

Linthorpe Nursing Home is a care home which provides nursing and residential care for up to 28 adults. At the time of inspection 20 people were using the service. Linthorpe Nursing Home is set out over two floors.

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

At the last inspection the provider failed to have effective systems in place to monitor the quality of the service. At this inspection we found improvements had been made. The registered manager and provider undertook a range of audits and checks on the service. However, further work was needed to improve their recording systems to evidence continuous improvement. We have made a recommendation about this.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and staff providing support knew them well. One relative said, “[Person] is safe. It’s the staff and ethos of the home that reassures me. I’m always contacted if there are any concerns.”

Staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse. People's privacy and dignity was seen to be maintained. The staff team had the necessary skills to support people appropriately. Enough staff were on duty to respond to people's needs in a timely manner. The registered manager used information from accidents and incidents to learn lessons.

People's care and support needs were assessed. Records reflected people’s current needs. Medicines were managed safely and there were close links with health and social care professionals to ensure people's physical and mental health needs were met and changes responded to quickly.

The home had a dedicated infection prevention and control champion who ensured national guidance was being followed. The registered manager monitored all areas of the home ensuring high standards of infection prevention and control were delivered and that suitable supplies of personal protective equipment were available. Additional activities had been planned within the home during lockdown to positively support people. People were supported to have socially distanced outdoor visitors. The home was in the process of developing other methods to support people in keeping in touch with their relatives and friends.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service upheld this practice.

The manager and staff team were praised by people, their relatives and staff, for their supportive approach. One relative said, “The manager is great, medically qualified and very professional. There is a low turnover of staff and they all appear to be knowledgeable and skilled.”

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 3 October 2019). There was one breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection enough improvement had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective and well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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

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.