Somerhill Care Home

Somerhill Care Home is a residential care home providing accommodation for people who require personal and nursing care, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury, to up to 40 people. The service is registered to support people with dementia, older people, younger adults and people with physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 34 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

Some people raised concerns about the staffing levels within the service. For example, we were told people could not always be supported with personal care when they wanted.

We saw one occasion where a concern was raised from people and relatives, and we found sufficient action was not taken to ensure people’s care needs could be met with regards to their dignity and respect.

We found some concerns relating to the management of people's medicines. For example, care plans did not always contain clear guidance for staff to support people safely, and people did not always have protocols in place for "when required" medicines (PRN).

People described staff as kind and caring. One person told us: “We have a laugh and they treat me lovely.” We observed staff supporting people to make decisions and respecting people’s choices.

There was an open and transparent culture within the service. People had the opportunity to give feedback about their care, and we were told things changed as a result. Relatives were invited to regular meetings where feedback was shared, and actions taken.

We recommend the provider includes feedback from people to ensure staffing levels meet the needs of the people living at the service. We recommend the provider reviews their processes around medication to ensure they are in line with best practice.

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 the service under the previous provider was Good, published on 5 August 2021. This provider took over the service in July 2022.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider review their quality assurance processes to ensure regulatory requirements, such as submitting notifications to CQC, are met. At this inspection we found these had improved and CQC notifications were sent where appropriate.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels and people’s needs being met. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Somerhill Care Home 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.

Hill House is a residential care home providing accommodation and personal care for up to 40 people. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people living at the service.

Accommodation was provided over three floors accessed by stairs and a lift. People had their own en-suite rooms and access to communal areas such as a lounge and dining room.

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

Prior to this inspection we received information of concern about cleanliness and some restrictive practice. This was a targeted inspection carried out to review those specific concerns only.

The home was clean and smelt fresh, we did not find any evidence to substantiate that concern. Staff were observed wearing the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) and there was stock available. Staff were provided with guidance and training on working safely during COVID-19. PPE was disposed of safely and there were handwashing facilities around the home.

One person we reviewed had guidance in place for staff to use when supporting them. Guidance included person-centred strategies to help support the person when experiencing distress. Mental capacity assessments were in place with evidence of best interest decision making. We did not find any evidence of unlawful restrictive practice.

People were able to have visits from friends and family with no restrictions in place.

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 the service under the previous provider was good, published on 4 August 2021.

Why we inspected

We undertook this targeted inspection to check on specific concerns we had about cleanliness and restrictive practices. 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.

We use targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

Follow up

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